Lewis Hamilton believes the front of Formula 1’s midfield could be as little as 0.5s behind the top three teams.
In what was one of the closest pre-seasons for some time, five teams all posted lap times in the 1m16’s with Renault, Toro Rosso and McLaren representing the midfield.
Haas also just missed out with a 1m17.0s while Alfa Romeo was two-tenths behind and both teams are expected to make steps in Australia.
“I think it is the three teams [that will remain at the front], but also the teams at the back have closed up as far as I’m aware,” Hamilton said.
“The whole pack has closed up. I don’t know which team is fourth currently, but they are a lot closer than they were before.”
“There was like a second gap before but now they are within half a second or maybe less, which is awesome.”
Renault technical director Nick Chester agreed, telling RaceFans: “I think it’s super-close. The times [on Thursday were] pretty close and they’ve been close other days but in a different order.
“I can say at the moment is Ferrari look like they’re a step out in front. We probably haven’t seen Mercedes’ true pace yet but there’s a lot of other teams that are super-close and I wouldn’t want to try and rank exactly where they are.”
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Hamilton isn’t sure if the gap will remain close over the entire season but does see the possibility for potential surprises.
“Depending on how their development is during the year and whether they have the capacity to develop as quickly as the top three teams will be the question [on if the midfield can keep up], but it will be exciting,” the world champion added.
“Maybe we will see some races where Renault or the Racing Point will be a lot higher than they were in the past.”
Also offering pecking orders prediction was Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko.
“Ferrari is ahead, then we come in front of Mercedes,” the Austrian told Speed Week.
“Then there is the big midfield, where it will be very tight and McLaren and Williams are at the back.”
