Will Lewis Hamilton win the Formula 1 season 2020 again?

Lewis Hamilton clinched his sixth Formula 1 championship last year surpassing the legendary Argentinean Juan Manuel Fangio at the second place of the sport’s all-time greats. The superb Briton is now just a single title shy of the great Michael Schumacher. Given Mercedes’ amazing record-breaking run of six subsequent drivers and constructors silverwares, the British driver is once again a heavy favourite to keep his amazing spell of form going before the 2021 changes of rules.

Mercedes made no changes to the winning team. Principal Toto Wolff, the technical director James Allison, and a line-up of drivers (Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas) are still there. The team worked hard over the winter at their Brackley base and everything suggests yet another dominant campaign for the Silver Arrows. The F1 betting might thus be a profitable pastime in the upcoming season as we just can’t see anyone capable of dethroning the stunning Briton.

The records Hamilton is chasing in 2020

Even though the fans can't wait for the implementation of the new rules in the F1 world as of the 2021 season, the 2020 campaign will be special for several reasons. The competition celebrated its 70th anniversary by the longest calendar ever, including as many as 22 races. The main question is if anyone can hurt Hamilton's ambitions of dominating the field. From this perspective, the answer is negative knowing Briton has taken as many as five titles since 2014. Lewis is highly motivated to stay at his best and take advantage of the situation to move lock on the number of titles with Michael Schumacher after this year. Additionally, the Briton is after several significant records ahead of the season.

With 22 races to run in 2020, Lewis will inevitably break Schumacher’s record of most wins. The legendary German has been at the top of the podium 91 times in his career. Lewis is seven wins shy and there are no doubts he will make history this year.

Speaking of the podiums, Hamilton has an even easier job of beating Schumacher’s record of 155 top-three finishes. The British driver sits just four podium finishes behind and he will likely set the record in the first quarter of the season. Finally, Lewis has the chance to go clear off the likes of Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna by the number of pole positions won at the same Grand Prix. Senna took eight poles at Imola, Schumacher managed to get the same number at Suzuka, while Lewis Hamilton can make it nine pole positions at the Australian Grand Prix in the season opener.

The main challenges

Ferrari were Mercedes’ biggest rivals in the last few years. They have announced strong campaigns ahead of the recent seasons, but never actually managed to seriously challenge the Silver Arrows. Even though Mercedes won six straight constructors and driver trophies, they can't underestimate the squad from Maranello. The SF90 was a fabulous machine, but Ferrari’s technical team made so many shocking mistakes in crucial moments leaving its two drivers handicapped in the battle with Hamilton & Bottas. According to boss Mattia Binotto, Ferrari updated the motor and invested more money in the F1 program.

The Prancing Horse are so hungry for success as their previous constructors' championship came more than a decade ago (2008). Leclerc enjoyed an outstanding debut campaign, while Sebastian Vettel is a great champion capable of rivalling Lewis under the right conditions. We also expect loads from Red Bull and their sensational Max Verstappen. The Flying Dutch is ready for a strong challenge and we don't be surprised to see him winning four or five races during the lengthy season.

Despite the mentioned challenges, we believe Hamilton will keep his superb run going and win the sixth title in the last seven years this season. Ferrari may be a somewhat more serious opposition this time out, but we are afraid their inner atmosphere will be at a significant low with Leclerc likely taking over Vettel’s No 1 status after the first two months.