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Formula 1: Who can challenge Lewis Hamilton for the title in 2020?

By William Dodds

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - NOVEMBER 17: Third placed Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on November 17, 2019 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - NOVEMBER 17: Third placed Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on November 17, 2019 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /
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Lewis Hamilton has held a vice-like grip on the Formula 1 World Championship for the last three seasons. Who can challenge him in 2020?

In each of the last three Formula 1 season, there have been patches of form from other teams and drivers, but sadly no team and driver combination has been consistent enough to challenge Lewis Hamilton.

However, since the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix, fans have been given a glimpse into what a more competitive championship could look like, where the Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes are more equal than they have been in the past.

With this convergence of performances increasingly evident during the second half of the season, Hamilton has not had things his own way, with only two wins to his name since the summer break.

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While the ease with which Mercedes wrapped up the constructor championship this season may have caused the Brackley team to switch focus to their 2020 car, there is still hope that the form shown by Red Bull and Ferrari since Formula 1 returned at the Belgium Grand Prix is a sign of things to come in 2020.

Furthermore, in the shape of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, both teams have drivers who look capable of competing with Hamilton in equal or near equal machinery, while Sebastian Vettel remains a proven winner who shouldn’t be written off.

In perhaps two of the best races of the season in Italy and Brazil, Leclerc and Verstappen were both able to assert themselves in one on one duels with Hamilton and come out on top.

Both have also delivered near flawless pole laps under pressure and have dominated their teammates in qualifying in a Hamilton-esque manner. While this is not to say that they are better all-around drivers than Hamilton is, it is positive that Formula 1 has three drivers operating at such a high level.

Next. Five Formula 1 drivers fighting for their career in 2020. dark

One of the oldest complaints from fans of Formula 1 is that they rarely get to see the best drivers competing in equal machinery so they can finally see who is really the best. This will likely prove to be the case in the 2020 Formula 1 season, but with three teams converging in terms of performance and three drivers delivering at such a high level, we could still be in for a classic three-way battle.

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