Lewis Hamilton has thrown down the gauntlet to Ferrari, telling them to “pick it up” in the Formula 1 title race.
His Mercedes team has dominated the start of 2019 with a record four consecutive 1-2 finishes and two wins apiece for Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas.
On the contrary, Ferrari has been unable to repeat the pace they appeared to have in pre-season testing, while more focus has been on the internal situation between Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc.
The world champion though is under no illusion that a should Ferrari get it together they would be very much in contention.
“Hopefully at some stage, Ferrari will be in the mix with us,” Hamilton told Autosport last weekend in Baku.
“I think [in Azerbaijan], they had the performance to be on the front row with both of their cars.
“From our data, we saw that Seb didn’t get a tow, for example, which is worth four or five tenths or something, so he probably would have been on pole had he got that tow and the race would have been maybe more exciting.
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“It takes 100% to deliver throughout the weekend, which we, I think, were as close to that as possible.
“They [Ferrari] are going to have to pick it up if they want to fight us,” he concluded.
Vettel remains positive the Scuderia can do that, however, comparing their current situation to fixing a complex puzzle.
“I think we have a good car, we just don’t always manage to put it where it belongs so that is difficult to have the trust and the feel, but I’m sure it is going to turn around,” he told British newspaper The Mirror.
“It’s like a Rubik’s Cube, we just need to solve it. I think we’re pushing as hard as we can but you’ve got to respect that Mercedes are doing phenomenally well and their car is most of the time in the right place.
“But I am confident and I believe in this team and know that we can improve.”
