Lewis Hamilton has disputed claims by his rivals that Mercedes will be in contention for race wins and the championship this season.
The Brit, despite posting some impressive times in the Mercedes W04, says the team must find more downforce if they’re to be competitive, adding race wins are out of the question.
“It’s not fast enough to be quickest over one lap but it’s not slow, that’s for sure,” he said on the final day of the second test.
“We need more downforce, that’s the name of the game at the moment.
“We’re not looking at wins at the moment. We’re hoping to get into the points and fight for the top ten.”
His rivals are refusing to rule him out of the fight, but Hamilton can’t see that happening in 2013.
“People are talking us up at the moment – [Sebastian] Vettel and Fernando [Alonso] saying we’re going to be competing for the world championship… Well, I really don’t see that happening at the moment.
“Of course that’s our goal. But you’ve got to remember the car was more than a second off, sometimes two seconds off, last year and we’ve not caught two seconds up, and the new teams will have put another second on this year and we’ve not caught up three seconds. That’s just a fact.
“Hopefully by the end of the year we will have gained three seconds but definitely not at the beginning.”
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