Hamilton: 'Feels like Red Bull and Ferrari have taken a step back'

Mercedes seems to have closed the gap with Red Bull Racing and Ferrari. George Russell won the sprint race of the Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday, while Lewis Hamilton also delivered a strong result with a third-place finish. The Brit thinks Red Bull and Ferrari may even have taken a step back.

Mercedes had to come a long way in 2022 after it emerged that the W13 was lagging far behind the other top teams. After the summer break, the team made bigger and bigger strides in developing the car. In Austin and Mexico, Hamilton was already getting closer to a win, but at Interlagos this weekend, Mercedes won for the first time in 2022, although not yet in the main race.

Still, Lewis Hamilton is optimistic about the Mercedes car's performance. The seven-time World Champion believes it is possible to completely close the gap with Red Bull and Ferrari during the winter break, which starts after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. "Definitely I think it has given us… we're taking a step. We know that there's some real changes that we can make with the car to get us back to a better fighting position for next season,"  Hamilton said in the press conference.

'Feels like Red Bull and Ferrari have taken a step back'

The Brit and teammate Russell looked faster than Red Bull and Ferrari in the sprint race. On Sunday, the Mercedes drivers will start from the front row of the grid after Carlos Sainz's grid penalty. "I don't fully understand… like we've definitely taken a step forward but it's almost like the other two teams have taken a step back. I don't know if that's right or not, but it definitely feels that way. But yeah, I think we definitely know where we're going and what we need to do to put us in a fighting position for next year. So we'll be super, super focused. Everyone I know is already ready to turn up this winter and put in the effort."