Lewis Hamilton has made a sneaky dig at a Red Bull star after discussing the chances of a title fight this season.
Mercedes endured a difficult start to the 2024 season, with Hamilton bemoaning at his ‘worst start’ to a season ever as they were usurped by their rivals.
The 39-year-old’s misery was further compounded by being consistently out-qualified by his team-mate, George Russell.
However, since both Mercedes drivers acquired upgrades in Canada, they have gradually caught up to the likes of McLaren and Red Bull, achieving three race wins this year.
Does Lewis Hamilton think there will be a championship fight?
After an incident between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix, Russell achieved his first win of the season.
Hamilton soon followed, by taking an emotional home win at Silverstone, and inherited the Belgian GP victory from his team-mate, who was disqualified after the race.
McLaren have also proven a challenge at the top, with 42 points separating them from Red Bull in the constructors' championship.
In a recent interview with Forbes, Hamilton discussed the championship and whether McLaren could take the fight to Red Bull in the championship this season.
Whilst the Brit admitted it would be a ‘challenging task’, he also stated it was possible, and made a dig at Red Bull driver Sergio Perez.
The Mexican has been slammed for his recent F1 performances, scoring 24 points in the last six races, which led to speculation that he would be replaced during the summer break.
“It is not impossible, but it is a huge, challenging task, but absolutely not impossible,” Hamilton said regarding McLaren's championship challenge.
“They’ve got two very strong drivers that are able to compete against, ultimately currently in the championship, one car that’s really up there doing a lot of the points scoring on the other side.
“So they’ve got something they can work with there, for sure.”