© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Lewis Hamilton says “people underappreciate” how well Mercedes has performed in 2021 “considering the pace” Red Bull has had “since day one”.
Ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton said Mercedes’ 2021 performance is not appreciated enough considering how fast Red Bull has been this season.
“I think people underappreciate just how well we’ve done considering the pace they’ve had since day one,” the Briton told Sky Sports F1.
“The struggles we had in testing before the season, then just skimming by and winning the first race and then we had a couple of races where…
“I just don’t think they optimised and probably made more mistakes than they would have liked to.
“I think we’ve done a pretty good job. But at the end of the day we’ve not been as fast as them most of the time.”
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Because of this, Lewis is cautious when discussing Mercedes’ chances this weekend.
“I think their pace was phenomenal in the last race. They’ve had a super car all year, they’ve had the fastest car.
“I think we’ve done as good as we could, we’re pushing this weekend to see if we can squeeze any more out the car.
“Last time here they were incredibly strong so we’re anticipating they’ll be very hard to beat this weekend.”
Asked if Sprint Qualifying could help Mercedes this weekend, Lewis said only good pace can help them.
“It doesn’t play into your hands if they’re quicker. We just need to focus on getting the car in the right window.
“It’s not the easiest car to set up,” Hamilton concluded.
