With just three Grands Prix remaining in the 2023 Formula 1 season, Mercedes sits second in the constructors’ championship on 360 points, 22 ahead of Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton has been able to finish on the podium six times this year. However, the former champion admitted he was unsure of where the Brackley outfit would be in the pecking order for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
“I really don’t know,” he said. “I expect the Red Bull to be very fast. It always seems to work almost everywhere – except Singapore – and we expect the Ferraris to be quick.”
“I expect our car to perform well here as it did, for example, in Austin, but you can never predict, it can go wrong or it can go right. So we are trying to prepare as best we can.”
The Stevenege native started behind the Ferraris at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez but nevertheless managed to overtake both drivers and make the podium from P6 on the grid. Having seen the Maranello team’s performance in the last few races, the 38-year-old is looking forward to a close battle with the Italian team for second place in the constructors’ championship.
Photo credit: Juan Gutiérrez P. / IG: @juan_guti
“It’s a very fun and enjoyable battle we’re having.
“These guys [Ferrari] did a great job in qualifying in the last race, but fortunately we were able to overtake them. But I think it’s going to be close in these last three races. So we’re going to have to work hard to stop these guys.”
Confirming the Briton’s words, Spanish driver Carlos Sainz accepted that Ferrari’s strength is often in qualifying: “I think we simply have a bit of a weakness there. It’s been there all year. We always tend to do better in qualifying than we do in the race.
“Then we have the inconsistency of the stints. There’s some stints during the year that we’ve been very good in the race, and then other stints that we’ve lost out a lot depending on the compound, on track conditions and the way we treat the tyre.
“So we just simply seem to be a bit less consistent on that front and that’s where we’re putting all of our efforts into these last three races and going into next year, to see if we can manage to change that deficit that we have.
The Spaniard also conceded that the German team has a better chance of winning second place as the Maranello-based team suffers a lot with pace in the race:“I do believe that Mercedes has a bit the upper hand, mainly because they’re heading the championship and 22 points is quite a bit. And also, given the points are done on Sunday and that’s where the Mercedes comes stronger and we are the weakest, I think for sure they have a bit of the upper hand.”
