“Now it’s back”: Ralf Schumacher states Lewis Hamilton’s F1 championship dreams reignited by latest Mercedes upgrades

Lewis Hamilton might be back in for a shot at his record-breaking eighth world championship after the new upgrades that Mercedes introduced, feels former Formula 1 driver, Ralf Schumacher.

He mentioned that there was a certain optimism that had apparently 'left' Hamilton after the 2021 season when he came into the season ahead with a car that wasn't competitive enough. The series of him being winless continued in 2023 as well with the W14 underperforming than the expectations.

Although he still remains winless since the past season and this season so far, his performance during the Spanish Grand Prix was impressive enough. Schumacher feels that he might be ready now to take on another championship battle.

"Lewis Hamilton seems to be getting along with the new concept a little better than George Russell and also seemed extremely happy. He seems very relieved and sees light on the horizon again that he can soon win another race and maybe still have the chance to win his eighth World title at some point," Ralf Schumacher said.

"I felt the optimism had left him for a while. Now it’s back," he added.

The new upgrades on the W14 were first introduced during the Monaco GP, but the track didn't provide sufficient competition or the data to see the apparent improvement in pace.

However, with the race day down in Barcelona earlier, it was quite apparent with the challenge Lewis Hamilton brought up to his challengers that the team is pretty much back in the top game.

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Lewis Hamilton feels still distant from a battle with Red Bull

Although the upgrade has definitely helped Mercedes in improving their pace, there are still quite a few factors that matter for Hamilton to be in the world championship fight.

Red Bull is still the benchmark of performance in the 2023 season with an extreme race pace and Max Verstappen driving himself to victory at every other race. Following on what Ralf Schumacher said about Lewis Hamilton's world champion hopes, it will be important for him to battle with the Dutchman. However, as he revealed earlier, it's still quite early to talk about that.

When he was asked about a possible challenge to Red Bull later in the season, he mentioned that it might come towards the end of the season and if not, then not any sooner than the 2024 season.

So even though Lewis Hamilton might be optimistic enough to win yet another world championship, it is quite apparent that it won't happen this season itself.