Lewis Hamilton has stated that Mercedes are further behind Red Bull after he finished seventh in the Formula 1 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on the Saturday.
The 39-year-old British driver finished a mammoth 50.3 seconds behind race winner Max Verstappen, with Sergio Perez finishing second to complete a Red Bull 1-2, while George Russell, his Mercedes teammate, finished five seconds ahead of the seven-time world champion in fifth.
Hamilton admitted he was in great shape over the winter but was left disappointed by Saturday’s result after having bigger expectations for the new season.
“I personally feel great. Physically I feel great so winter training has worked,” Hamilton said.
“I think we probably feel a little bit of disappointment within the team. I was definitely hoping we’d be better this weekend than we were. It was a tough race. It was close with everybody.
“Degradation is obviously high. There’s plenty of areas in which we can improve. We’re further back to the Red Bulls than we thought we were.”
That’s P5 and P7 for the team in Bahrain ????
A battling drive by George and Lewis after facing overheating issues throughout the race ???? pic.twitter.com/8CuXxzk2fp
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 2, 2024
Hamilton, who will join Ferrari next year, will turn his attention to the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia this weekend.
