Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes’ perfect start to 2019 stems from their ability to deliver the optimum performance at each weekend.
On Sunday in China, the German manufacturer became the first team since Williams in 1992 to start a season with three straight one-two finishes, as Hamilton also took his second straight win.
Once again, it was their pace that simply proved too hot for Ferrari to handle and finding every last tenth has been the key in the world champion’s mind.
“I think what’s showing is just how it’s not been easy to get these three one-twos,” he said post-race.
“I think as a team, we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves, and we’re naturally going to continue to get our heads down and keep working.
“We’ve got another close battle on our hands. The Red Bulls, I don’t know where they were today or this weekend, but I know the Ferraris are right there. I think we’ve got races that are coming up that could potentially suit them more, who knows.
“I think ultimately as a team we’ve performed collectively together, we’ve really delivered on the weekends, and we’ve just got to continue to do so.”
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Even within Mercedes too, Hamilton is having to up his game with Valtteri Bottas appearing the quicker driver for much of the weekend.
The first sign of a turnaround came in qualifying though, with the Briton explaining how he altered his approach to close the gap.
“Through the weekend, the car’s really not liked how I drive at this track,” he said.
“I was always really quick here and my aggressive driving style worked really well, and then I used that in the last two years and the tyres would not allow it and the car would not allow it and I seemed to have lost a lot of performance.
“I really had to be quite dynamic to change my natural driving style, shift it to a different way.
“I only really got there at the end of qualifying, and then in the race, it was a little bit back to what my normal driving style would be, so once I got into the lead I was able to maintain position and do what I do.”
