Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari’s advantage over Mercedes at Bahrain is chiefly down to their superior straight-line speed.
But the world champion also said the Bahrain International Circuit hasn’t suited Mercedes well in recent years.Hamilton qualified third for this weekend’s race behind the two Ferrari drivers. Asked in today’s FIA press conference to explain the difference between them he said: “A lot of it is on the straights. Not all of it. So somehow they’ve managed to find a lot more speed on the straights.”
Despite not being able to replicate his pole position from the first race of 2019, Hamilton said his car’s balance feels good.
“For us the car has felt OK, it’s just I think the over the years the bumps in this circuit haven’t suited our car for whatever reason. I think we’ve got it into quite a nice place today.
“In the straights was really where we lost a lot of time. Sector we’re losing three tenths, two-tenths, just on straight-line speed. So that’s a significant amount.”
He indicated the team should be more competitive in race trim. “We’ve got work to do but the race pace I think was better for Valtteri [Bottas] yesterday, he looked really good on long run on the soft. So I’m hopeful that we have that tomorrow.”
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Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
30th March 2019, 18:30
New year, same conversation. Ferrari quick in testing, out of the pace in melbourne, front row lockout in bahrain .3 ahead of Lewis due to Ferrari having cheated mgu power.
Martin
30th March 2019, 18:46
Why are you accusing Ferrari of cheating again?
GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian)
30th March 2019, 18:49
Oil burning again?
torrit (@torrit)
30th March 2019, 20:22
Surely. It’s impossible for anyone to make more powerful engine than Mercedes after all.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
30th March 2019, 19:08
S3 has longer straight line than S1. So saying Ferrari having a lot more speed on the straight is untrue since Lewis is the fastest driver in S3. Unless we agree that Lewis S3 time is down to the driver not the car.
KGN11
30th March 2019, 20:38
What are you talking about? Not once in qualifying did Lewis set a sector time that was faster than either Ferrari’s.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
31st March 2019, 0:03
Did you skip Q2? Also, if Lewis at least manage to match Bottas pace in S2, he’ll be in front row.
Boudi
30th March 2019, 21:33
Down to preserving the tires.
MacLeod (@macleod)
31st March 2019, 4:38
Ferrari is just better on the S3 tyres when everyone is on the S2 you wil see more times close to each other.
Man United_Vettel (@siegfreyco)
31st March 2019, 2:37
Why does so many guys here think that only Mercedes can have the most powerful engine. No one accused them of cheating when they were blitzing the top speed for 2014-2017.