The star driver from Mercedes comments on the status of the preparations for the season – and it becomes clear. One circumstance in particular worries Lewis Hamilton. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, drives ahead.
Record world champion Lewis Hamilton sees his Mercedes racing team on the defensive a week before the start of the Formula 1 season – and sounds the alarm. “It’s still too early to worry about the World Championship, but at the moment I don’t think we’ll be fighting for victories,” said the Briton in Bahrain on Saturday. The reason for the pessimism of the 37-year-old Vice World Champion are the mixed impressions during the test drives in the desert state.
“It’s clear to everyone that we’re not the fastest,” said Hamilton, who was the first driver to become world champion for the eighth time this year. “Ferrari seems to be the fastest, and maybe Red Bull and then maybe we or McLaren. We’re not at the top at the moment,” said the former long-term winner.
Verstappen drives away in front
The current situation feels “very different from last year,” said Hamilton: “It doesn’t look so good.” He sees Mercedes facing major challenges in order to be able to keep up with the competition. “I’ve been told we need to find a significant amount of speed,” Hamilton said. That will probably take longer.
At the end of the tests, world champion Max Verstappen set the fastest lap on Saturday. The 24-year-old Dutchman drove his Red Bull ahead of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari and Fernando Alonso in the Alpine racing car. Hamilton finished 17th, almost four and a half seconds down. The first Grand Prix will also take place in Bahrain on March 20th.