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Lewis Hamilton suggests Ferrari and Red Bull are in a different league and will run away from him in the race in Bahrain. Satisfied with a fifth place in qualifying, the Briton revealed that his rivals had a better race pace than his team and were a second ahead.
Commenting on Mercedes' performance in comparison to Ferrari and Red Bull, Hamilton said:
“Those guys ahead of us are in another league. So, I am generally happy with where we are, it’s not the front row. We’ll make improvements and do the best we can tomorrow. Those guys will be going away, so we are not in a fight with those.”
The Briton made it clear that the Ferrari and Red Bull team drivers will be hard to catch in the race. Confirming that he won't be in the fight up front, the seven-time world champion believes the only thing his team can do is make more improvements in the race.
Referring to Red Bull and Ferrari’s race pace, Lewis Hamilton said:
“They were a second ahead of yesterday through race pace. So my battles with the guys behind most likely. But of course I will try to be as fast as I can. But as I said their performance is quite ahead of us.”
Reiterating that his fight in the race is with the ones behind him, the Mercedes champion was certain it would be hard to beat the Red Bulls and Ferraris. Paired alongside former team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the third row on the grid, the Briton’s chances of a podium look bleak.
Lewis Hamilton satisfied with qualifying performance in Bahrain
The Mercedes driver was satisfied with his fifth place on the grid in qualification ahead of the Bahrain GP. Given the team’s struggles with balance issues, Lewis Hamilton believes they have made progress from the pre-season tests where his car was a ‘nightmare’ to drive.
Expressing satisfaction at his performance in qualifying, the Mercedes driver said:
“I am not going to say I am relieved but I am generally very happy with today. Given where we’ve been in the last few weeks, the struggles we’ve had, the problems we’ve had with the car. Its been a bit of a nightmare to drive. But we’ve just kept our heads down, we’ve been working. So I am proud of everyone for just saying positive and yeah to get fifth in quali.”
Despite the struggles, the British champion is proud of the positivity in his team. Expecting the performance dilemma to be resolved in the coming weeks, Lewis Hamilton revealed his team were working on the issues and that the fifth place on the grid was satisfying. The Silver Arrows squad, however, will have their work cut-out for the rest of the season, since the mid-field is also extremely competitive in 2022 with teams like Haas looking like a serious threat.
