Lewis Hamilton: Toto Wolff makes shock revelation about Mercedes star ahead of new season Formula One has been dominated by Mercedes over the last five years, with Hamilton winning four of those. The 34-year-old now has Michael Schumacher's record of seven world championships in his sights having picked up his fifth last year.
He was locked in a close battle with Sebastian Vettel for most of the season and the Ferrari driver looked favourite to lift the trophy at the halfway stage. But Hamilton stepped up another level in the final 10 races, winning seven races while Vettel faltered.
It ended up being a relatively comfortable title win for Hamilton in the end. However, entering the season Wolff wasn't so sure whether they had a championship-winning car. "We always have to wait and see how Lewis feels about it," Wolff told. "He flew to Shanghai and then to New York prior to the Singapore Grand Prix, but to be honest, we did have our doubts about it.
"When he put in that mega lap in qualifying, I knew enough." The new 2019 season is little over a month away from getting underway in Australia on March 17. And there will be plenty of noticeable changes on the grid. Daniel Ricciardo has left Red Bull to join Renault with exicting young prospect Pierre Gasly taking his seat.
Kimi Raikkonen has moved on from Ferrari with 21-year-old replacing him to race alongside Vettel/ And in the coming weeks the 2019 cars will be launched, with Toro Rosso set to be the first to unveil their new livery on February 11. Mercedes are set to reveal theirs on February 13 while a number of teams are yet to announce their unveilings.
NEXT NEWS:Alonso identifies driver to watch in 2019: "His story is incredible".He might not be in Formula 1 anymore, but Fernando Alonsowill be keeping a close eye on the sport nonetheless, and especially on the development of Robert Kubica, who will be the one to watch according to Alonso.
It will be the first time since 2000 that F1 won't feature Alonso, who won two titles in the sport in 2005 and 2006 with Renault. He's regarded as one of the quickest drivers of his generation, as the Asturian doesn't rule out a potential comeback to F1 in the future. For now, though, he will watch from the sidelines.
"Robert Kubica," Alonso responded to Corriere della Sera when asked who his driver to watch will be in 2019. "His story is unbelievable. Up until a few months ago it looked like he had no chance of racing. He will drive like he has nothing to lose because that is the case." The other driver the two-time champion will watch is the young Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who will make his debut for Ferrari in 2019.
"Then there is Charles Leclerc at Ferrari. He's young and he has the talent. I have a feeling this could be the last year of Mercedes' dominance. I can only advise Leclerc that the championship gets decided in the last few races of the season. Don't be too rushed and try to keep things under control. Start slowly, score points and help the team." A good piece of advice from a man who has seen it all.
NEXT NEWS:'Vettel is simply broken'. Sebastian Vettel is "simply broken" and is likely to be a casualty as the new generation of Formula 1 stars take over, led by his new Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc. That is the view of racing driver and F1 pundit Tom Coronel, who believes Vettel will struggle to mount a comeback after falling short of Lewis Hamilton again in 2018.
Errors from Vettel and Ferrari contrived to throw away a pace advantage over Mercedes in the middle part of last season, allowing Lewis Hamilton to pip the German in the race between them to five world titles. Pressure is mounting on Vettel, who spoke often during 2018 of his desire to see Kimi Raikkonen retained by the Scuderia.
Vettel largely had the measure of the Finn over four years together, but it remains to be seen if Leclerc will be as compliant as Raikkonen occasionally was. "This is now a period in which the new generation will rise", Coronel told Formule 1. "Vettel lost the World Championship again last year and is simply broken, I'm sure he will not be able to overcome this and I hope Ferrari will give both drivers the freedom to race. "What Leclerc showed last season was just pure class, and he scored points with 'a bite' regularly. "Sauber of course drove a Ferrari engine and Leclerc has been able to take advantage of that."
NEXT NEWS:Verstappen's 2019 helmet design leaked? An image purporting to be of Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly's helmets for the 2019 Formula 1 season has emerged on social media, suggesting that the Dutchman has opted for a radically new design for the upcoming campaign, with a white and red colour scheme hinting at close ties to Red Bull's new relationship with Honda.It would appear from the image that Gasly's design is largely unchanged, carrying the dark blue colours synonymous with Red Bull.
However, Verstappen's new look is sure to turn heads as he embarks on a 2019 campaign in which he will be seen as the leader of Red Bull's hopes. Check out the leaked image below. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has admitted that Gasly was promoted to the senior squad ahead of time after only one full season in F1 with Toro Rosso.
The Frenchman is determined to get up to speed immediately with Verstappen, although much remains to be seen if Red Bull's switch to Honda power units will bear fruit. After growing frustrated with Renault's inability to produce a regular race-winning engine, Red Bull have jumped into bed with Honda, who are yet to power a podium finish since returning to F1 with McLaren in 2015. The Japanese marque's best result so far came in the back of Gasly's Toro Rosso at last years Bahrain GP as he came home in fourth.
NEXT NEWS:Michael Schumacher's son Mick lashes out over fake family photos of Formula One legend. Michael Schumacher's son has criticised the media for fake photos of their family that have reportedly been widely circulated online. Mick Schumacher, 19, who is poised to join his father's former Ferrari team this year, shared three images on his social media accounts, asking "all media to remove them from their archives".
The photos show Schumacher with two children prior to the Formula One (F1) legend's skiing accident in 2013. The popular photos were allegedly of Mick Schumacher and his 21-year-old sister Gina. The Sun reports that the images were widely shared my media outlets and among fans on social media.
Schumacher, who races in Formula Two with leading Italian team Prema, on Sunday wanted the public to know that neither him nor his sister were the children in the photos. Posting the pictures, Schumacher said: "these photos are often published because they supposedly show me as a child with my father. To clarify: these pictures here do NOT show me, and neither do they show Gina.
"I'm sorry for the people in these photos. I can only appeal to all media to remove them from their archives." It's not known who the children in the photos are. German racing great Schumacher turned 50 on January 3 but has not been sighted publicly for more than five years.
He suffered severe brain injuries in a skiing accident in the French Alps back in 2013 and was placed in an induced coma until June 2014. Since the accident, Schumacher's family have kept his exact condition a closely guarded secret and very little is known about his recovery during his treatment at his home in Switzerland. Son Mick has linked up with the Ferrari driver academy.
He last month visited the Ferrari museum dedicated to his father in Maranello, Italy, and posted photos about it last week on Instagram. Schumacher, who won the European Formula 3 championship in his second attempt in 2018, was present at the post-season F1 test with Ferrari in Abu Dhabi last November.
Charles Leclerc, who will partner Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari in 2019, is a graduate of the Ferrari academy as is new Sauber signing Antonio Giovinazzi. However, being a member of the Ferrari driver academy does not guarantee a drive in F1.
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