Lewis Hamilton, reigning Formula 1 world champion with Mercedes, considered that the Ferraris are currently the fastest with an advantage of around half a second over their direct opponents.
“Ferraris are currently the fastest,” he told reporters on the last day of pre-season training in Barcelona.
“The gap with the Ferraris is around half a second,” he added, before recalling that “practice is practice and there is no reward for going fast.”
“The important thing is to be as fast as possible on Saturday in Melbourne”, where the first qualifying session of the 2019 World Cup will take place on 16 March ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix.
He considered that the same three teams that last year were ahead, that is, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull, start with an advantage. «But the other teams have reduced the difference (…). I do not know who the fourth is but they are much closer than they were before, “he stressed.
According to him, teams like Renault or Racing Point (exForce India) could fight for the lead this year. In 2018, only Force India managed to get on the podium (3rd in Azerbaijan) apart from Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.
“The battle will be tougher,” he predicted.
He assured that the last tests in Barcelona were “very positive” for Mercedes, which strives to “optimize the improvements” made to the car from the first week of practice.
At the time he spoke, Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) posted a time of 1: 16.221, that is, the fastest so far in practice, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton’s teammate at Mercedes, with 1: 16.561. Lewis
Hamilton should run in the afternoon before the end of the tests at 18:00 local (AFP).