Lewis Hamilton says he is wary of the rising threat posed by Red Bull, who he expects will be stronger at tracks like Monza and Spa which haven’t previously suited them.
The Mercedes driver expects Red Bull to be stronger on the long straights of the first two tracks on the calendar after the summer break.“Sometimes a car’s better in [different] places,” he said. “A car is not always the best through a whole season.
“In Austria, the Red Bull was the better package for that circuit. It worked well in the temperatures and everything. Even compared to us it was a good car, and against Ferrari.
“I think Singapore will be strong for them. When we get to the longer places like Monza this year it could be different this year now they have a new power unit, they’re not lower than us in power, in some places they’ve got more power than us. So it’ll be interesting to see how they go in those races.”
Hamilton believes Red Bull is now on an upward trend after struggling in the early years of the V6 hybrid turbo era.
“What people need to remember is that it’s a multi-championship-winning team. They’ve always had a very good car. They’ve got Adrian Newey there who’s one of the best designers there is in the sport.
“They had a slump with a little bit less power, then they had a period of time where they had a little bit less downforce than most people. They’ve definitely crept back up and started to utilise this car more.
“Both drivers are now starting to put in good performances, the second driver’s had good performances. So they’re there. It is clearly a very good car. We’re in obviously a period of time where it suits them.”
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2019 F1 season
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Joao (@johnmilk)
2nd August 2019, 16:30
He says power, but doesn’t mean it. The package might be better in some places, yes
but more raw power? doubt it
Alec Glen (@alec-glen)
2nd August 2019, 16:41
Honda will have more power than Merc at Mexico I’m guessing he’s saying.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
3rd August 2019, 7:29
@johnmilk he means that when he dominates this weekend, it’s because he’s a miracle worker.
Initially
3rd August 2019, 9:00
He even says he surprised Mercedes is so close to their faster rivals red bull and ferrari this weekend. Mercedes still 6th fastest team. All season. Such a great driver he is
Hugh (@hugh11)
2nd August 2019, 16:53
Ah, the old Mercedes ‘everyone else’s car is faster than ours’ line.
Martin
2nd August 2019, 17:43
Ah, the old misrepresent everything Hamilton says line
Mr G
2nd August 2019, 18:09
Ah, the old overly defensive reply by a Hamilton fan line.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
2nd August 2019, 18:36
Ah, the hilarious to and fro :)
Nick (@nick101)
3rd August 2019, 0:30
This is just Hamilton making excuses in case someone else does actually have a car that can compete with the Mercs. We’ve all seen how well Hamilton does when his rivals are driving competitive machinery. See results for the WDC prior to 2014!
LHFan44
2nd August 2019, 17:03
This is what Nico meant when he said, “Lewis makes it harder than it seems… The Lewis Hamilton show’
bob (@riptide)
2nd August 2019, 19:05
Well he made it look pretty easy when he was up against Rosberg.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
2nd August 2019, 21:30
@riptide He made it harder than it should have been, given that I rate Hamilton considerably higher than Rosberg.
Moi
2nd August 2019, 18:02
Yaaaaawn
C’mon Toto, double up and say you’re the underdog now.
Saint Lewis will provide another ‘miracle’ I’m sure.
Psi (@psi)
2nd August 2019, 20:28
+1000
JK
2nd August 2019, 18:08
Until he presses the button for party mode.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
2nd August 2019, 18:10
Not that he needed it, but he’s learning from Toto really quickly. Pump the others hard, underpromise so it’s easier to overdeliver.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
2nd August 2019, 18:31
I believe that Mercedes and Ferrari have a better engine for qualifying. But in the race it seems that the Honda engines can run in a higher engine mode for much longer. That could make Red Bull a dark horse for Monza and Spa.
Phil P
2nd August 2019, 21:15
Completely agree with this… It was something I thought I had spotted too over a few races now. Regarding all these articles… Well they don’t half try to pick up on almost everything hamilton says, twist it somewhat until they can make an article about it….. Its just getting silly now.
My Left Eye (@blik)
2nd August 2019, 18:45
lol………the drivers are starting to put in good performances!
Only Facts!
2nd August 2019, 22:08
I don’t understand why HAM fears VER that much. He does not fear RBR and GAS, in my opinion. His only concern is VER, and he is up to the Challenger in my opinion. In Monaco that was só evident by the way he was comunicating with his engineer. RIC was able to keep VET behind in 2018 with 160hp less due to the MGU-K issue. But in 2019 HAM kept screaming that “tyres are gone” and things like that when VER was chasing him… All he had to do is stay in front and make no errors… But It seemed like he was trying to have a reason ready in case VER could pull one of his moves.
Mayton
3rd August 2019, 8:31
Well he fears him since the last 7 races were either won by him, or Verstappen. Seems Verstappen and Hamilton are top of the top at this moment.
papaya
3rd August 2019, 2:07
Toto on year 2020: “we’re in dangerous position now. Ferrari, Honda and now Renault PU has more raw power than us. GPS trace showing we’re 2 sec behind on the straights.. “
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
3rd August 2019, 7:37
Only yesterday I noticed that RB ditched the traditional Newey rear wing main plain for the more widely adopted style of the past 25 years. Rb has been running more rear wing than Ferrari for more than a year now.
Does all of this means that Honda has got more bhp? Of course it does not.
Like most have commented this statement is a Toto special. Pumping up the rivals, releasing pressure, whinge a bit and ignore that, max verstappen, the threat, winner of the last gp is their main worry.
NeverElectric
3rd August 2019, 15:13
All those making snide remarks about Hamilton on this article must be feeling real clever now, after the quali result.
trublu (@trublu)
4th August 2019, 2:22
They are too miserable to care