Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1 championship leading driver this season, believes that his constructor Mercedes lacks a power mode to meet Ferrari’s power plant capacity.
This year’s season has been dominated by the Mercedes, by acing out all victories to its name so far. The team has managed seven victories with Hamilton taking five and Bottas with two crowns.
The last victory was named to Mercedes after Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel was handed over a five second grid penalty for unsafe return.
The victory at Canada extended the gap between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton by 62 points.
Montreal winner believes that Mercedes engine power deficit was huge to its rival.
“They were so quick on the straights,” said Hamilton. “They definitely have another power mode that we currently don’t have.
“So, all of a sudden they turn up the power and he pulls away massively on the straight, even if I have DRS open.”
Hamilton rejected the notion and stated that it is “not an assumption”. He stood fast to his claims and said that it was evident during qualifying sessions in Canada.
Mercedes lost almost six tenths of a second to Ferrari on the straight track.
Vettel was communicated by the team to change its mode to ‘engine mode 1’ to have more power, when he was being chased by Mercedes.
“In the race I know all of a sudden they pick up a lot of pace on the straights [as well] but that’s the name of the game,” added Hamilton.
“They’ve clearly done a great job with their power unit.
“There used to be a point where Mercedes was ahead in that area by a good chunk.
“We’ve got work to do there. They are ahead of us at the moment there.”
Ferrari performance on the straight line tracks has been astounding and it is believed to be complement by the car aerodynamic concept. The new concept has proven to yield more performance to its rival concept.
Ferrari had the best possible opportunity to mark first victory of the season at Canada to their name, which team they failed to manage.
