Lewis Hamilton claims it’s ‘heartwarming’ to see ex-team McLaren performing exceptionally well in F1

McLaren has scored 184 points so far in the 2024 F1 season.

Lewis Hamilton claims it’s ‘heartwarming’ to see ex-team McLaren performing exceptionally well in F1

Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, and Lando Norris (Via: Imago)

Seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton shares his praise for the McLaren team, for which he raced during the seasons of 2007–2012. McLaren’s performances this season have been impressive as the outfit has already scored 184 points in eight races.

Lewis Hamilton has been a well-wisher of McLaren ever since he left the team at the end of 2012 to join Mercedes. Hamilton to date is the last world champion to be crowned under the McLaren branding. He did in the 2008 F1 season.

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McLaren has been an average team for the past decade and has failed to put up a strong battle for the drivers and constructors championships. However, the Woking-based team has shown signs of strong promise this season and looks like a very capable team to challenge for both titles.

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It warms my heart because I was there for such a long time, and they gave me my break. So it's cool. I hope we can get closer as well, I think they [McLaren] also have just shown that you can close the gap and you can catch up if the job's done right. It's inspired us all to get on it.
Lewis Hamilton spoke to RacingNews365

Hamilton further said that McLaren has encouraged everyone on the grid to work harder on their performance since they have found the pace to compete with Red Bull and Ferrari. The Andrea Stella-led team has been an inspiration and has shown that it is possible to close the gap to the leaders if the people and the teams just put their hearts and minds to it.

Helmut Marko credits success of McLaren and Ferrari to that of Red Bull

Red Bull Technical Advisor, Helmut Marko spoke on the performance improvement of McLaren and Ferrari, crediting it to the developments made by Red Bull. The two outfits currently stand as fierce competitors to the Austrian team.

Dr. Helmut Marko
Helmut Marko (Via: IMAGO)
We are in the third year with the current regulations and everyone is copying. Some copy better, and you can see the result of this in McLaren. Ferrari has also constantly developed.
Helmut Marko spoke to OE24

Marko aimed a dig at McLaren and Ferrari, claiming that the two competitors have ultimately taken their inspiration from the steps made by Red Bull. He further said that this situation was very likely to happen during the third year of the current regulations and that every team on the grid is copying the best developments in other cars, with McLaren and Ferrari doing the very best!

As things stand, Ferrari is only 24 points behind Red Bull in the constructors championship, and McLaren is third with a 96-point gap to the leaders. The coming races of the season will see an exciting three-way battle between the teams for the drivers and the constructors championship.

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