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Hamilton: Red Bull "not on same level" as Mercedes or Ferrari

12:05, 13 Apr 2018

byNicolás Quarles van Ufford

Lewis Hamilton has said that Red Bull Racing has the potential to win races, but isn't on the same level as Mercedes and Ferrari.

Red Bull looked like finally being able to really contend for the championship in pre-season, but reliability issues have impeded the team from making any progress at all so far. Both cars retired after five laps in Bahrain, and Max Verstappen's car had broken parts in Melbourne too, preventing the Dutchman to finish high up in the first Grand Prix of the season.

"The team [Red Bull] has potential to win races for sure," Hamilton said.

"In pre-season testing, they looked a lot faster than they did in the last two races.

"But so far this season, they've not been operating on the same level as Mercedes or Ferrari.

"Ferrari has almost been flawless, and we're trying to be flawless."

Mercedes' start to the season has indeed been far from flawless, as the Germans have seen their rivals Ferrari and specifically Sebastian Vettel take the first two races. Vettel already has a seventeen-point gap with number two Lewis Hamilton (50 against 33), and 28 points more than number three Valtteri Bottas (22). In the constructors' championship, the gap isn't as big as Kimi Raikkonen retired from the race in Bahrain after running over the leg of one of the mechanics. The prancing horse leads the way with 65 points, followed by Mercedes in second with 55 points. Red Bull only has 20 points.

"I don't feel like Ferrari did better than us in Australia than us, we outperformed them all weekend," Hamilton continued.

"It was just one little thing that tipped it in their favour and we got unlucky.

"It was fortunate, but they capitalized on it.

"The next race they did the job, but not the whole job as only one car finished.

"Getting the one-two is the full package, and neither of us has done that yet.

"They've really picked up their engine programme, it's taken a big step this season."

Ferrari certainly has certainly looked the better team this season so far, as Kimi Raikkonen was set for at least a podium finish before being forced to retire. Mercedes has looked off the pace, and will surely be looking to bounce back in a big fashion in China and assert their dominance.