Lewis Hamilton says Max Verstappen and Red Bull are “in another league” in terms of straight-line speed performance.
The Mercedes driver simply watched on as the two-time world champion flew past him in both Jeddah and Australia, with a speed differential of up to 36kph.
The reason for this is Red Bull’s DRS, which is believed to deliver a bigger gain in top speed when open compared to their rivals.
The race-winning move by Max Verstappen on Lewis Hamilton!! ???#AusGP #F1 @Max33Verstappen pic.twitter.com/9iry7Vo0f0
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“We’ve got a lot of work to do clearly to catch the Red Bull because they came flying past and disappeared,” Hamilton told Sky Sports post-race in Melbourne.
“Max is in another league. His car is so fast, he passed me halfway down the straight and he was several metres ahead, like 10 metres ahead [before the corner], I don’t know how they’re so quick on the straight – it’s just insane.
“Until we pick up speed on the straight like they have, and have the crazy downforce that they have through the corners, that’s how it’s going to continue,” the seven-time world champion added.
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“But I think for the others, I think if we continue to work together, we can definitely fight the Ferraris and the Astons.
“The battle is really with Fernando [Alonso] right now. I enjoyed racing with him, it was very reminiscent of my first race here in 2007.”
Hamilton also highlighted Red Bull’s performance after Jeddah, declaring he had “never seen a car so fast” as the RB19.
A claim team boss Christian Horner was all too happy to accept.
“Well it’s obviously very flattering, particularly considering some of the cars that Lewis has driven in recent history,” he said.
“We’ve got a great car. [The] RB19 is a fantastic starting point for the season for us and to achieve two one-two finishes in the first few races is more than we could have ever expected coming into this season.
“We’re conscious it’s a very long season, there’s still 21 races to go and six sprint races and big updates are coming from others as we head back to Europe. So there’s still an awfully long way to go.”