Martin Brundle has backed Lewis Hamilton to win F1 races this season – provided Ferrari make a “big step” at the Miami Grand Prix this weekend.
With Mercedes leading the way after the opening three rounds, the enforced spring break has given teams time to try and close the gap, with tweaks to the regulations announced last week also threatening to reel in Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.
Ferrari have been Mercedes’s closest rivals, with Hamilton picking up his first podium in Ferrari red at round two in China. Hamilton is currently fourth in the drivers’ standings, eight points behind teammate Charles Leclerc and 31 behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
Hamilton, 41, has voiced his approval of this new generation of cars – in contrast to the ground-effect era of 2022-2025 – and Brundle believes the seven-time world champion can win races if provided with a “sniff” of an opportunity.
“Lewis clearly enjoys these cars much more,” Brundle told Sky Sports’ F1 Show podcast. “Ferrari is more competitive and I think again will make a big step for Miami.
“Lewis obviously prefers this type of car to the seasons we had with the ground-effect cars that were smashing against the ground and were quite brutal things, it didn’t seem to suit his style.
“But just his mood and just the way he’s going about it, he just seems a lot happier because Ferrari is more competitive.
“He’s got to beat Charles Leclerc if he’s going to win the world championship in the other Ferrari, and others.
“Let’s see if he can sustain that. If there’s a sniff of a victory, I think Lewis is still very much capable of taking that.”
Brundle added that he still believes as many as eight drivers can win this year’s world championship, including the pairings from McLaren (Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri) and Red Bull (Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar).
“This is going to ebb and flow. I see teams leapfrogging others with some upgrades because there is so much upside potential with these cars,” he added.
“I think it’s totally wide open. We have got a sprint weekend in Miami, so there are sprint points to be won, grand prix points to be won.
“Anybody, I would say, in the top four teams, any of those eight drivers, could win this year’s world championship.”