© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
After qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix in P4, Lewis Hamilton says the race is going to be “about damage control” and predicts an “easy cruise win” for Max Verstappen.
After having an obvious pace deficit to Red Bull at the Styrian Grand Prix, Mercedes seems to be in an even worse position this week.
Lewis Hamilton doesn’t think Mercedes will be able to beat Red Bull in the race, based on their current pace.
“It’s even more of a challenge than it was already last week, and [we] continue to lack pace,” the Briton said after the session.
“I tried everything to get more out of the car. It’s just the underlying pace, that’s where we’re at, at the moment. So we’ve got to really find performance in the following races.
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“I don’t know if McLaren have brought an upgrade, but they’re mega quick today, so great job from Lando. We’ve just got to try and improve.”
Ultimately, Lewis predicts an easy win for Max Verstappen.
“In terms of pure pace, it’s definitely out of the question. Those guys firstly have got two cars to get by in front, and they’ve got three tenths on us, I think they’ve improved their car again this weekend.
“I would say that’s an easy cruise win for Max. I think for us, it’s to try and see if we can get ahead of at least Perez, and try to limit the damage this weekend.”
