Lewis Hamilton feels that Ferrari hasn’t fired on all cylinders so far to the Mercedes challenge in the 2019 F1 season.
From the four F1 races so far in the 2019 season, it was only in Bahrain where Ferrari looked genuinely in the hunt to win with a huge margin. It worked well in China and Azerbaijan in close quarters but Mercedes made no mistake for them to pounce on.
Even though Ferrari has a quick car at their disposal, it hasn’t been able to put all things together to have a clean weekend where they can take the maximum. And with Mercedes going all guns blazing, it has only made the matter worse for Ferrari.
Its biggest rival Hamilton feels the Italian manufacturer hasn’t been able to fire on all cylinders against a German team which is at the highest level. He cited the small margins where Ferrari lost out in Baku which has been the situation in the other races as well.
“We didn’t think we will be dominant [in Baku] but we will be a lot closer,” said Hamilton. “Honestly, I think if we look at our data, Seb didn’t get a tow on his fastest lap in qualifying and I think with the tow, he would have been on pole.
“I think Ferrari definitely had strong pace and if it had been theirs, then they would have been 1-2. It would have been a different picture [in the race] but unfortunately [for them], we are delivering on a very-very high percentage.
“Valtteri and I, are both pumping our team on all cylinders. [It looks like] they are not, so when they and [more importantly] if they start pumping on all cylinders and they start delivering, then we will have a much more of a fight.”
Its been a tough run for Ferrari as they find themselves 74 points behind Mercedes with the German eking out a record-breaking four consecutive 1-2 finishes. Even though their main aim is to beat Mercedes but they have ended up embroiled in a unnecessary situation.
Whatever gamble they have tried, hasn’t succeeded but instead it has raised undue questions where they end up defending the situation rather than put their focus on beating Mercedes. To add to it, luck hasn’t gone in their way at all which is also quite needed.
Check out the list of stats and info from F1 Azerbaijan GP
Here’s Charles Leclerc on not pushing in second/third stint
Lewis Hamilton was cautious at start as he played a team game
Sebastian Vettel on finding pace in the second stint
Ross Brawn on Ferrari fighting back
Mercedes explains Q3 dummy and VSC re-start issue
Mika Hakkinen has kind words for Mercedes and their teamwork
