Lewis Hamilton said the fight to win a fifth world title would be “close” after he missed out to Sebastian Vettel in the Australian Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver lost the prompt Ferrari’s Vettel amid a security auto period and said Ferrari’s execution was “better than it looked”.
The world champion added: “There will be ups and downs. Ferrari are really quick on the straight.
“They will be rapid in the next race. I can tell you it is going to be close.”
Hamilton lost the lead in light of the fact that Vettel could pit amid a virtual wellbeing auto period, while the Briton had effectively made his stop.
This gave Vettel leeway of 10 seconds over the pit stops – and the issue was exacerbated by Mercedes misjudging the time Hamilton needed close by to guarantee he kept the lead amid a virtual wellbeing auto period.
“Everyone in the team is feeling it but there is so much positivity to take forward with us,” Hamilton said.
“We still got second. It feels like a dark cloud but it’s not. It is still a positive result. We have a great car, we are still the world champions and with a couple of adjustments we can win the next race.”
He said the group “don’t fully understand at the moment” why their figurings weren’t right – which implied they didn’t request that he manufacture a greater lead in the beginning times of the race.
Hamilton additionally lost about a moment in view of a generally moderate pit stop.
“I had extra tools,” he said. “I could have been further ahead by the first pit stop. There were so many good things we could have done but if one thing is telling you one thing and you think you are doing it to the book and to within the limits, then there is nothing you can do.
“I feel like I was driving as good as ever and really happy with how I was driving. Anyway, I will take it on to the next race and apply it exactly the same as this weekend and try to grow within myself.”
The following race is in the abandon of Bahrain on 8 April. Hamilton said he expected another intense test from Ferrari there.
“They are always good on hot circuits – even though it is night race it is tough on the tyres,” he said.
Vettel said: “Obviously we were a little bit lucky today, but we take it. We are not there yet where we want to be [in terms of qualifying pace]. If I don’t feel what I want to feel it makes it a bit tricky. But it is a good start and gives us good motivation for the rest of the season.”
