Hamilton: I wish Ferrari and Red Bull were in the mix

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Hamilton, Bottas, Barcelona, win

Although Lewis Hamilton used the clear superiority of Mercedes to dominate the Spanish Grand Prix, comfortably beating teammate Valtteri Bottas and making light work of their rivals on Sunday, the World Champion wishes that Ferrari and Red Bull were in the championship battle.

Speaking after his victory in Spain, Hamilton said, “My personal feeling is that I prefer it when they are in the mix with us. I prefer the races, where, for example, Bahrain where they were on the front row. I love that.”

“That’s… especially when we’re intertwined, where there’s a Ferrari and a Mercedes, or a Mercedes and a Ferrari, The last couple of years, that’s what we’ve had, and from a drivers’ point of view and a team’s point of view, it’s much better when you’re competing with another team.”

“When it becomes more internal, it’s less exciting, I would say – but it’s still massively challenging for the drivers. We still have to deliver. It’s not a case of just rocking up and going out.”

With five one-twos in a row, Mercedes are looking unbeatable this season with the expected Ferrari challenge fading before it even started, while Red Bull who are emerging as a force early on in their Honda partnership have still got work to do to reduce the deficit.

This means that the only hope for an entertaining championship is if ‘civil war’ erupts at Mercedes as it did in 2016 with Bottas 2.0 taking on Hamilton to keep us from nodding off on Sundays.

Barcelona suggests that we still have our wingman Bottas and not the ‘Reloaded’ or ‘Version 2.0’ as is being suggested, but rather that for the first four races we had ‘Hamilton 0.8’ but on Sunday in Spain it was Hammertime and we know what happened there.

Nevertheless, the five-time F1 World Champion is itching for a proper fight with other teams, It would be great to have a Ferrari and a Red Bull there, fighting with us in a natural race.”

In Barcelona, there was nowhere to hide for anyone – as Mercedes dialled up their package for Saturday’s Q3 only – Bottas powered to pole position with a time of 1:15.406 which was eight tenths faster than the best Ferrari and nine-tenths up on the top Red Bull.

After the dust settled at the end of a dull race in Spain, Ferrari were beaten not only by the Mercs but also by Max Verstappen in the Red Bull suggesting that the energy drinks team may well be second in the pecking order when it comes to race pace.

Notably on fresh mediums, after the late safety car period Verstappen was a quarter of a second faster than Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc when the pair set their fastest laps on the 57th lap of the race.

Hamilton is obviously taking notes, “I think this year [Red Bull] have made a big leap with Honda doing a great job with the engine. If you look at their laps, their speed on the straights are much, much closer to ours, if not sometimes a little bit quicker than ours at the end.”

“It’s probably the first year their focus has to be on the car,” he added, referencing reports that all is not well with the Red Bull RB15 chassis.

Then followed it up with an inadvertent (or not) swipe at Adrian Newey, “It’s quite interesting in Formula 1 where engineers are so intelligent but they often stay with one philosophy and never want to shift the way they design a car. Even when others have shown a different direction works. I’m sure the car’s going to continue to improve.”

Next up are the streets of Monte Carlo where Red Bull won last year with Daniel Ricciardo, and are expected to have a handy package for their drivers at the glitzy seaside venue.

Hamilton acknowledged, “They’re always quick in Monaco, they’re always quick on those street circuits particularly. I’m sure it’s going to be very strong. Let’s hope that there’s more than they’re closer because we welcome more battles throughout the year.”

Big Question: How can Mercedes be stopped?

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