Bernie Ecclestone has taken another swipe at Lewis Hamilton with the British driver going two years without a win in F1.
It proved to be another frustrating season for the Mercedes driver as he was unable to challenge Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
All the focus is on Mercedes and the rest of chasing pack to close the gap to Red Bull this year.
The Silver Arrows will fancy their chances at being the closest to Red Bull after finishing second in the Constructors' Championship last year.
Lewis Hamilton and Bernie Ecclestone have not seen eye-to-eye
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However, Ecclestone feels Ferrari have the edge unless Hamilton and George Russell improve.
"'The trend is your friend' doesn't just apply to the stock market," he told German magazine Sport Bild.
"But if anyone can do it, it will be Ferrari. Not Mercedes, and not just because of the car.
"Lewis Hamilton failed a bit, and George Russell wasn't as good as he thought he was.
"Still, they shouldn't have lost as dramatically as they did."
Ecclestone stuck the knife in even further by suggesting Verstappen would have been able to win in the Mercedes car unlike Hamilton.
He added: "Max is the measure of all things at the moment.
"You could put him in a McLaren or probably a Ferrari or a Mercedes and he would win.
"It's the latest in a long line of swipes Ecclestone has taken at Hamilton with the pair not seeing eye-to-eye.
Hamilton hit out at Ecclestone back in 2022 when the former F1 supremo stated he "would take a bullet for him [Putin]” and the Russian president was doing "something he believes is the right thing" in regards to their invasion of Ukraine.
Ecclestone also caused controversy when he defended Nelson Piquet, who was banished from the F1 paddock for using the N-word to describe Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton has not won an F1 race in two years
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The British racing superstar called for Ecclestone not to be given the space to air his controversial views.
That prompted an angry retort from Ecclestone himself, who insisted he's always had Hamilton's corner.
“Lewis has forgotten a lot,” he said.
“When Mercedes didn’t want to pay him what he asked for, I immediately said I would pay the difference. Formula 1 needs someone of colour, a Chinese and a woman.”
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F1 cancelled its contract with Russia in response to their invasion of Ukraine and the race hasn't returned to the schedule since then.
And speaking back in 2022, Stefano Domenicali confirmed global motorsport series would not be returning in the future.
“I’ve always believed that you should never say never,” he said.
“But in this case, I can promise for sure – we will no longer negotiate with them. There will be no more racing in Russia.”
