Nico Rosberg believes Mercedes can win a race before the end of the season, but doesn’t think it will necessarily be Lewis Hamilton to take the victory. The 2016 Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg is convinced the Mercedes team to score at least one victory this season, despite the fact that the reigning world champion team now has just six opportunities left.

After a difficult start to the season for Mercedes, the German manufacturer’s team turned things around at the British Grand Prix by introducing a major upgrade to its car that has clearly paid off. Since Silverstone, Mercedes has managed to secure a pole position in Budapest and several podiums, but so far, the manufacturer has not yet managed to win any of the sixteen rounds already contested.

Mercedes need to beat Ferrari, even if they don’t win a race

Mercedes’ primary objective is to beat Ferrari to second place in the constructors’ championship, but the team’s other stated goal is to secure at least one grand prix victory this year, although the opportunities to do so are diminishing by the week with only six races remaining this season.

This week on the eve of the Singapore Grand Prix, Britain’s Lewis Hamilton said that “it wouldn’t be the end of the world” if Mercedes failed to win this year and that his team was instead focused on the main objective of dislodging Ferrari from second place in the championship.

However, his former team-mate Nico Rosberg remains convinced that Mercedes can still achieve at least one win this year but will need a bit of luck to make it a reality.

“I have a feeling they [Mercedes] will win, but it won’t necessarily be Lewis, it could be both [Hamilton or Russell]. But for that they will have to be lucky, because without luck they won’t be able to I think,” the German told Reuters news agency.

Mercedes has had serious problems adapting to the new 2022 regulations this year, with the W13 sporting an almost sidepod-less design but this did not cure the extreme handling and balance problems partly due to excessive porpoising. This design was used throughout the Bahrain test and became the primary design for the team.

Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, was initially quoted as saying that the design was not “to the spirit of the regulations.” A Red Bull spokesperson later said this was incorrect, stating that “no official comment” had been made by the team.

With many upgrades since the start of the 2022 season, the W13 performance strengthened and by the summer break, a win looks more likely if the cards are right. The season antithesis to Ferrari who started strong only to fall back as the season progressed.

Before the Singapore Grand Prix, Mercedes is third in the constructors’ championship, just 35 points behind Ferrari.

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