After the preseason testing, when Mercedes received their results, there was a general feeling of concern, since the German manufacturers had a difficult 2022 season. They anticipated a great time during the testing days but nothing had gone in their favor for the first two days. Nonetheless, Lewis Hamilton‘s second-place finish on the third day provided the team with some optimism going into the new season. But now that the team is still debating the pace and balance of their new car, an ex-F1 driver has attempted to rub salt on Lewis Hamilton’s wound by drawing comparisons between Mercedes’ trouble and a $4.45 billion Liverpool club.

The English driver is gunning for his eighth world championship ahead of the Upcoming F1 season, but it appears that his team is having trouble finding the true pace. Martin Brundle, an F1 analyst, has recently drawn similarities between the Brackley-based team and Liverpool, which is managed by Jürgen Klopp. Contrasting Hamilton’s squad with Liverpool, who won the champions league and the premier league under Klopp but hasn’t been able to maintain that form this season, same as Mercedes who won consecutive 4 championships from 2017 to 2020, Brundle attempted to subtly add salt to Hamilton’s open wounds.

Martin Brundle gave Sky Sports an explanation of the challenges Mercedes is facing. He said, “It’s odd in a team, look at Liverpool right now for example, with just nuances or a couple of changes of personnel and philosophy or maybe a lack of confidence. That’s what I’m seeing at Mercedes at the moment. I thought last year they would ace that car really quickly. When we saw it in the paddock a year ago we thought ‘nobody is going to see that car for dust’ which was wrong. Clearly they’ve still got to finesse it and they needed to do it early. They’ll need to get in there quickly and sort it.”

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The speculation around Lewis Hamilton’s contract extension with Mercedes has grown since last year. Although nothing has been officially confirmed, there are talks that Hamilton will extend his contract with the Brackley-based team after this season. And when Sky sports quizzed Martin Brundle on the same, he provided an upbeat response.

Martin Brundle offers perspective on Lewis Hamilton’s F1 retirement

The Briton had a horrible 15 months, but he was resilient during that time. And with Mercedes’s lackluster performance last year and the fact that Hamilton has entered his last year of contract with Mercedes, there have been growing speculations about his retirement. Thus, when Sky Sports questioned  Brundle about his thoughts on how long Hamilton’s career will last, he remarked, “I think Lewis can race for as long as he wants to.”

The F1 analyst sees no reason why Hamilton can’t continue for long. He added further, “ Drivers don’t get smashed up these days, they don’t get broken bones and their heads knocked around too much. The cars are much safer. They’re physically in incredible shape with their nutrition, hydration, they are looked after well. I think Lewis has got as many more years as he wants in him.”

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It will be interesting to see how the Mercedes driver handles the new hurdles when the season finally gets underway in a few days. Having said that, do you think the Englishman will be able to claim a record-breaking eight world championships in the 2023 season?