Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes has further work to do if it is to get on equal footing with Ferrari in the power stakes in Formula 1.
Ferrari is widely recognised as being in possession of the strongest power unit this season, with its speed through Canada’s final sector substantially up on rival Mercedes.
Mercedes introduced its Phase 2 engine update in Canada, two events after Ferrari brought its second-spec power unit, having accelerated development of its upgrade package in the wake of its Australia display.
Mercedes continued to trail Ferrari in Canada and Hamilton believes the Italian marque has “another level” that his outfit cannot yet reach.
“We’ve got work to do, we’ve seen how quick Ferrari were at the weekend, and they were kinda right there at the last race [in Monaco] as well,” said Hamilton.
“It will be interesting to see how it plays out. They’re quicker than us on the straights. They have another level of engine mode they can go to, particularly in qualifying but also the race, so we’ve got work to do.
“But at least we’ve got a good fight.
“They were so strong this weekend and a real formidable force.
“We were very, very fortunate to be in the battle with [Sebastian Vettel] as they genuinely could have had a 1-2 if they had a front row for example, but luckily I was able to stop it.”
When asked whether his viewpoint on Ferrari’s speed was based on data or an assumption, he replied: “It’s not an assumption, you’ve seen in qualifying the three tenths or six tenths, whatever it is, on the straights they’re able to pull up.
“And in the race I know that all of a sudden they pick up the pace on the straights. That’s the name of the game.
“They’ve clearly done a great job with their power unit. It used to be a point where Mercedes was ahead in that area, by a big chunk, and we’ve got work to do there.
“They are ahead of us at the moment, [there's] space for us to work in.”
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