Lewis Hamilton is hopeful that Ferrari upgrades for the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix have addressed a perceived deficit to team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Following a seventh-place finish at Suzuka, three places down on his Ferrari team-mate, Hamilton exclaimed, “on my side, something is underperforming”, hinting at a “deficit” to the other side of the Italian marque’s garage.
Hamilton hoped changes would help eradicate that deficit, and those have arrived in Bahrain in the form of a new floor, which has lifted Hamilton’s spirits.
Returning to the pre-season testing venue with an updated Ferrari package has left Hamilton “feeling really positive” ahead of the Bahrain GP.
“I can’t expand on that now but we’ve got a new floor this weekend so I’m excited,” Hamilton told select media, including Motorsport Week on Thursday.
“The team has worked really hard to bring, as teams do they work incredibly hard to be able to bring upgrades so to have that here, the track that we tested at and to have more knowledge about the car and how to attract more from it I feel really positive going into the weekend.”
Hamilton was then probed on how important it is to return to the Bahrain venue, having tested there with Ferrari in pre-season.
“Honestly, I don’t think it’s going to make a difference,” he said.
“I’ve driven all the tracks over the years, many times.”
That somewhat contradictory statement was followed by Hamilton addressing the knowledge base he and Ferrari gained in February, adding that all teams share a similar experience.
“We’ve tested the car, we’ve run it with a set-up, and so we come here already kind of with a better understanding of the work… We did the tests here, we had three days,” he said.
“We had good days and bad days and the middle day particularly was a good day we’ve got a good set-up base to work from this weekend which is a bit of an advantage for everyone compared to some of the other tracks.”
Can Ferrari catch McLaren with new upgrades?
Leclerc has already indicated Ferrari’s upgrades, coupled with warmer temperatures in Bahrain could play into the Scuderia’s hands and help claw back a deficit to McLaren.
Hamilton explained that’s the ultimate goal, and hopes this weekend is a step in the right direction.
“I mean, we’re trying to figure out how to catch them [McLaren],” he said.
“They’ve obviously got a great car, they’ve also won [the] Constructors last year. They’ve started off incredibly well this year as has the other two top teams.
“So, yeah, I think we’ve learned a lot over the past few races and I think hopefully this weekend it’s a step forward for us definitely.
“It’s not necessarily closing the gap but it’s going towards closing the gap; it’s not going to close the gap completely but if we can extract more from the car which is what we’re trying to work on hopefully we can see better results.”
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