Mercedes “losing three and a half tenths” to Red Bull on straights - Hamilton
Hamilton’s hopes of taking the win at Paul♕ Ricard were ended on the penultimate lap when he was overtaken by main title rival Max Verstappen after Red Bull pullꦡed off a masterstroke two-stop strategy.
The seven-time woꦯrld champion conceded that Red Bull made the right strategic calls but also felt he had no chance of keeping Verstappen behind in any scenario due to the RB16B’s strengths in a straightline.
Mercedes fitted a new engine to its cars in Baku, while Honda introduced theiꦇr second power units of the season at Paul Ricard for its customers Red Bull and AlphaTauri.
“Undeniably they were just much quicker than us this weeken𓄧d,” Hamilton said. “We’re losing three and a half tenths just in a straight line.
“So you sa🅰w him fly past me down the straight. There was nothing I could do to keep him beh🦂ind.”
As part of a package of cost-saving measuꦑres introduced to help F1 survive the financial crisis triggered by the coronavirus pa✃ndemic, an engine freeze has been imposed for this year, preventing teams from being able to address any deficits.
“It’s diffic🍬ult because the engines are homologated,” Hamilton added.
“They’ve obviously brought an up🏅grade here so we’ve got to dig deep and try and see if we can figure out how to get quicker.”
And speaking in the FIA press conference, Hamilton warned that Red Bull’s advantage on the strai൩ghts could once again hand them the edge at the upcoming double-header in Austria.
“It’s a power-hungry circuit, it’s got those loജng, long straights, so we could see something similar to this weekend with the straigh🎐t-line speed of the Red Bull,” he explained.
“But we’ve got three days to try and see if we can make some adjustments and improvements, and maybe if we maximise on absolutely everythi💦ng then maybe we can give them a run for their money.”
However, Hamilton play𒊎ed down the pain of his latest defeat to Verstappen, having endured his longest winless streak sinceඣ 2019.
“It’s not gut-wrenching at all,” he explained. “We did a great job today a♌nd it just didn’t wꦐork out, so I’m not massively disappointed.
“I think I did the best job I could today, of course there were things🥀 that we could probably have done slightly better but overall they’ve been quicker than us all weekend, so it’s a true reflection of the pace they have.”
Lewis regularly ꦗattends Grands Prix for mahbx.com around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matt🍨er in the sport.
