Breaking news
Formula 1 Bahrain GP
Hamilton expected gap to Red Bull in qualifying to be "double"
Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes' 0.388-second gap to Max Verstappen in Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying is closer than he expected, after anticipating it being "double" based on pre-season testing.
Alex Kalinauckas
Published: Mar 28, 2021, 1:19 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Verstappen gave Red Bull the first pole position of the 2021 season with a storming run to his fourth career pole at the Sakhir track on Saturday, finishing ahead of Mercedes duo Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
After climbing from his W12 following Mercedes' first season opener qualifying defeat in the turbo hybrid era, Hamilton said he "absolutely gave it everything I had, but unfortunately it wasn't good enough".
Speaking in the post-qualifying press conference, Hamilton revealed that the final gap to Verstappen was actually "definitely closer than we expected".
"I think this is a really good step forward for us," he continued, referring to Mercedes' work improve its package since pre-season testing ended two weeks ago at the same Bahrain track.
"Coming in this weekend we thought it was double the gap that you see today.
"And so that's really down to some really fantastic work from the men and women back at the factory and people here [at the track]. Just collectively, just all pulling together."
Read Also:
- Mercedes: Engine derating issue adding to Red Bull deficit
- Hamilton: F1 floor rules change aimed at slowing down Mercedes
- Why F1's 2021 rules hurt low rake Mercedes more
Hamilton also explained how Mercedes' work since testing had been concentrated on tweaking the package it brought to Bahrain ahead of testing, rather than being able to improve its position with car developments.
"It's hard to do a huge amount," said the reigning world champion.
"There's been no development; it's just really been about fine-tuning the car and trying to understand the envelope that we have.
"It's different to last year's with these changes, and so we're down in certain places, but it's going to take some time to catch those up.
"But it might be specific to here and not elsewhere, maybe."
When asked if he thought Mercedes would be able to beat Red Bull on race pace in Sunday's grand prx – data collected in Friday practice revealed the two squads were almost exactly equal on the medium tyres, albeit when free to choose engine modes and fuel loads – Hamilton replied: "It will be difficult to say.
"I think [if] they've got the pace gap they have [in qualifying]… usually they carry that through into the race – they're very strong in race conditions.
"I'd like to think we can close up a little bit, but I think they've got at least two-tenths in hand."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Vettel receives grid penalty for Bahrain yellow flag infringement
Next article The performance swing that highlights Mercedes' low-rake pain
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Alex Kalinauckas
Who is Kimi Antonelli, F1 sprint polesitter at just 18?
Formula 1
Formula 1 May 3, 2025
Who is Kimi Antonelli, F1 sprint polesitter at just 18?
Why Bottas has the edge over Perez in 2026 F1 return race
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Apr 2, 2025
Why Bottas has the edge over Perez in 2026 F1 return race
What if Red Bull solved its second-car problem with a paint job?
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Apr 1, 2025
What if Red Bull solved its second-car problem with a paint job?
More from
Lewis Hamilton
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Formula 1
Formula 1 13 h
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 d
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
More from
Mercedes
The Kimi Antonelli you don't know: Inside the Mercedes garage with F1's new world champion
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
12 h
The Kimi Antonelli you don't know: Inside the Mercedes garage with F1's new world champion
Latest news
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
48 min
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
1 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 5 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe