Lewis Hamilton will be pleased with the Formula 1 boss’s decision to take the championship from Mercedes.

McLaren boss Zac Brown believes Mercedes can bring Lewis Hamilton back into the discussion for this year’s Formula 1 title.

Adding to his seven World Cup wins over the last two seasons was not a realistic goal for the Englishman. Red Bull adapted best to the new car regulations for 2022 and haven’t looked back since.

Mercedes, on the other hand, have struggled to compete at the back of the grid and have only won one race in the last two years. George Russell beat Hamilton to win the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Hamilton, now 39, has not won since the 2021 race for Saudi Arabia. But Brown not only believed the Briton would win again this year, he even claimed Mercedes had the potential to push their driver back into title contention.

The American told Speedcafe of his McLaren team’s progress over the winter: “We like what we’re seeing now in the wind tunnel and CFD, so we feel like we’ve taken a step forward. “How? The biggest mystery for Red Bull is when they will stop building cars to focus on next year (2024). I think it’s a very early answer, so we’ll have to wait and see how much Adrian Newey has. Magic comes out of the furnace to see where we are.

Brown then attempted a title shot against the team’s other main rival. He added: “Teams like Mercedes and Ferrari have everything they need and are great teams. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were sitting here and all of a sudden Mercedes won Lewis’ eighth title.”

It remains to be seen whether Mercedes designers will crack the code to create a title-challenging car under the current regulations. But if they can do that, 2009 world champion Jenson Button has no doubt that Hamilton still has what it takes to become champion. “After winning for so many years and then suddenly having it taken away from him, he might do two different things,” he said. “First of all, they say, ‘There’s no point now. I want to retire. I’ve been at the top for a long time and I haven’t won a race in two years.” But it just might make you want to come back. I think Lewis is in that state right now.