Lewis Hamilton believes that Mercedes is no longer the reference in Formula 1 after four years of absolute domination, although the world champion team leads the constructors’ championship after the seventh round of the season.
The German manufacturer seems to have lost ground compared to the competition since the beginning of the year, the team of the firm to the star not having shown a clear superiority during the first races of the 2018 season.
Mercedes had to delay the update of its engine in Canadian GP, after having detected a problem related to the quality of certain components, which will not have helped him on the Gilles Villeneuve track where the engine power is an important factor.
“I thought the engine was going to fail. Straight from the start, I got to Turn 2 and the power started dropping out.” Hamilton said.
“But now we are not far ahead of the others, everything is tight. Red Bull occasionally enters the fight, and Ferrari has been, so far, the most consistent team, although there are still many races.
“These engines have yet to last a long time, and there will be many things that we cannot predict. I’m sure in the next couple of days it will get more painful but it could have been a lot worse. I could have lost 25 points.” Hamilton added.
Despite everything, the quadruple world champion says he trusts his team, which will improve the situation during the season.
Mercedes Lewis Hamilton finished at fifth place in Canadian Grand Prix. (Source:www.agilityracing.com)
“I’m really proud of my guys. They are working so hard and continuously pushing. It is definitely tough when you have a weekend where you feel like you have done everything right and you don’t get the result.” Hamilton said.
“I think we can win [the championship], I fully trust all the team members and give them all my energy. If we think we’re going to lose, then we’ve already lost.
“No matter where we are on the grid, I don’t look at any driver and say I can not win. I’m just thinking about how to beat him and how I can improve.” the 33-year-old drive added.
The Brit is currently sitting in second in Formula 1 standings with 120 points, one point behind leaders Vettel and 34 points ahead of his teammate Veltteri Bottas in third place.
