Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Red Bull Ring, 2019

Hamilton: Ferrari stronger than usual over race stint

2019 Austrian Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton is wary of a potential threat from Ferrari at the Austrian Grand Prix, saying they could be slightly quicker than Mercedes.

“I think today’s shown that they’re either with us or slightly ahead of us,” said Hamilton after Friday’s two practice sessions.

The compact nature of the Red Bull Ring makes it harder to judge the performance of each car, says Hamilton.

“It’s one of those circuits where it’s very, very close. If you go, for example, to Brands Hatch it’s the small tenths that make a difference so it’s quite packed at the front.

“I think the Ferraris have generally been very quick on the straights, I think Red Bulls have picked up their pace on the straights with their new engine, I think they’re doing great. It’s definitely going to be a real challenge.”

Ferrari took pole position in Canada three weeks ago but it’s their race pace which has caught Hamilton’s eye.

“The Ferraris have been quick all year in the straights for whatever reason and it doesn’t seem to be hampering them in the corners. So it’ll be interesting.

“[On] the race runs they’re usually not as strong, but I think today they were quicker than us. But it’s OK, we’ll keep fighting. It is a track that you can follow closer at least and hopefully the tyres are durable to be able to do that.”

Hamilton said he had a “clean day with no major issues” although he “broke the wing a couple of times” while running wide. “I think a lot of people were doing that on the kerbs,” he said.

“I don’t know if we’re faster than we were here last year but it feel incredible. You’re flat out for a large portion of this lap. You’ve obviously got a couple of slower corners like [turns] one, three and four, otherwise it’s super-fast. Turn six, seven is like a small lift, nine – it’s ridiculous how quick we’re going through nine and then again the last corner which drops away.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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22 comments on “Hamilton: Ferrari stronger than usual over race stint”

  1. Ferrari are 0.5s quicker than Mercedes here :D

  2. Look, why doesn’t Lewis just get – “I fear Ferrari” – tattooed on his forehead and stop saying the same thing every other weekend?

    I enjoy the mind games and the PR tactics in F1, but Team Mercedes pretending to be worried every race is getting a bit silly now.

    Next headline – “Verstappen losing sleep over how much Ricciardo is improving”

    1. Verstappen line is hilarious haha, but yeah this is boring to hear this from Mercedes every week.. it’s even insulting cuz is just a 2 meters dude with muscles on his muscles saying he is worry about a child(no child support)

    2. Ahah, that’s a good one indeed!

  3. The reason Vettel is making mistakes when in the lead? He has to drive 100% whereas Hamilton can go 95% and nog worry. The mercedes is in a different league all together.

    1. Come look at this silly excuse for an F1 driver making mistakes.

      Does the same reasoning apply to other non Ferrari drivers making mistakes?

    2. Vettel was probably driving his heart out when he clashed with Stroll on that cool down lap then.

      1. +1 Hahahaha. I’m a Ferrari fan and still believe Vettel is better than his latest form but this was hilarious.

      2. Vettel was probably driving his heart out when he clashed with Stroll on that cool down lap then.

        pmsl

        All the Ferrari fan parody accounts cropping up on Twitter are so accurate you dont know which is which.

    3. Tell Bottas about your findings ;)

    4. We could screenshot this comment and add it as a textbook definition of the phrase “Mental Gymnastics” :-)

  4. I think Red Bulls have picked up their pace on the straights with their new engine, I think they’re doing great. It’s definitely going to be a real challenge.”

    It seemed like genuine statement from Hamilton up until he started praising Red Bulls straight line speed…. Lol

    Now I expect Mercedes to dominate this weekend.

    1. Yeah that seemed like stretching it just a bit much, didn’t it @todfod!

    2. Man, I think you should ease up on the Honda bashing on the weekend that two Renault powered cars starts from the back with their 4th engine.

  5. Last year I enjoyed both Mercedes crushed by Verstappen and Vettel during race day, with Vettel’s notable overtake on helpless Hamilton. Both Mercedes panicked behind their opponents then “shutdown” the cars to avoid humiliation. Hopefully history repeat.

    1. @papaya: They “shutdown” their cars to avoid humiliation, huh? which brand of tinfoil hat is that you wear?

      At Austria last year Lewis had just a 14-pt lead over Vettel and its barely half-way into the season. So you think Lewis/Mercedes are going to throw away 12pts, and let Vettel take the lead in the WDC, to avoid “humiliation”. That theory of yours is just rubbish.

    2. hamiltons car was fine Mechanically speaking at the time of vettel overtake.. his tires werent.. mercedes were eating the tires in a matter of 10 laps or 15.. after that i believe is when they introduced the slotted rims

    3. F1oSaurus (@)
      29th June 2019, 9:36

      True, Hamilton and Ricciardo made the mistake of trying to race. Which killed their tyres and both were just sitting ducks after that.

      Even then Vettel had trouble overtaking Hamilton and he felt the need to pretty much run into him to get past. Seconds a lap faster and still Vettel can’t manage a clean overtake.

  6. “The Ferraris have been quick all year in the straights for whatever reason and it doesn’t seem to be hampering them in the corners”. This is why the words of LH and Mercedes are never taken seriously, acting like Ferrari didn’t lose 0.8 to them in S3 alone in Barcelona and everyone knows Ferrari has a cornering weakness, especially slow.

    1. F1oSaurus (@)
      29th June 2019, 9:38

      Maybe, just maybe, he could be talking about this track? Might perhaps maybe make more sense since Ferrari actually was lapping faster.

      You know, things change. It happens. Ferrari brought a big update in France and they are further working on it here.

  7. Louey would make out Williams were a threat to give his empty wins more weight…

  8. Well Hamilton called it :) some people in here look rather silly now

Comments are closed.