Breaking news
Formula 1
Mercedes needs "drastic" top speed improvement for Monza
Lewis Hamilton believes his Mercedes Formula 1 team needs "drastic improvements" in straightline speed to compete with Ferrari at this weekend's Italian Grand Prix.
Scott Mitchell
Edited: Sep 5, 2019, 1:25 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Charles Leclerc's Belgian Grand Prix victory last Sunday was Ferrari's first win of the season and the Italian team is the pre-event favourite heading to its home race at Monza.
Ferrari's aerodynamic philosophy for this season has given it a straightline speed advantage all year and Mercedes had a surprisingly big deficit in qualifying last weekend at Spa, although was much more competitive in the race.
Read Also:
Asked if he expected the same pecking order at Monza, Hamilton said: "It's all straights, so it's going to be a happy weekend for Ferrari, most likely.
"In qualifying [at Spa] we're losing over a second a lap. So, there's not much me and Valtteri [Bottas] can do in that instance, and there's not a lot of corners there to catch that up.
"It'll be interesting. In the next few days we've got to make some drastic improvements to our straight speed, somehow. I don't know if that's possible, but if anyone can do it, it's our team."
Over the balance of the season Mercedes has established a clear advantage over Ferrari and has been 0.309% faster on average.
At Spa, Ferrari turned the tables dramatically, holding a pace advantage of 0.744%, yet Hamilton finished within a second of Leclerc in the race.
"We'll do our best, but position is also everything," said Hamilton. "We've got slightly better degradation than them, and it's a longer race, isn't it
"So hopefully we can have another close race like we've had [in Belgium."
Bottas added: "I think they're going to be quick there, but last year they were quick as well and we managed to make their life pretty difficult.
"That's where we got booed on the podium and everything. We'll try to do the same again."
Leclerc's victory earned Ferrari a reprieve heading to Monza, after a disappointing season in which it has cost itself a handful of victories but generally been too slow to challenge Mercedes.
Team principal Mattia Binotto, who celebrated his first win as team principal thanks to Leclerc's success last weekend, says Ferrari must be "perfect" to take victory again.
"The best way to approach Monza would have been to have won many races before, and not only Spa," said Binotto.
"But certainly as Monza is one of the most power-sensitive circuits, and we have proven our package is competitive at Spa, we may expect to be competitive at Monza as well, no doubt.
"We've developed some low-downforce packages, some of it has been used at Spa. We don't know what the others have prepared for Monza, that's really a question mark.
"We've seen that to win you have to do everything perfect: from the qualy to the start to the team management to the drivers themselves.
"Nothing can be left and I am expecting it will be very difficult at Monza as well."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Leclerc "feels ready" to be F1 title contender
Next article Ricciardo hopes "no-nonsense" Hulkenberg finds 2020 seat
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Scott Mitchell
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Formula 1
Formula 1
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Formula 1
Formula 1
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
Formula 1
Formula 1
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
More from
Lewis Hamilton
The mistakes that cost Lewis Hamilton a podium at F1’s US GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
The mistakes that cost Lewis Hamilton a podium at F1’s US GP
Fred Vasseur reveals two costly moments that denied Ferrari US GP double podium
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Fred Vasseur reveals two costly moments that denied Ferrari US GP double podium
More from
Mercedes
Franco Colapinto, George Russell to sit out FP1 at F1 Mexico GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Franco Colapinto, George Russell to sit out FP1 at F1 Mexico GP
Toto Wolff dismisses Helmut Marko's Russell theory: "He still has what it takes"
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Toto Wolff dismisses Helmut Marko's Russell theory: "He still has what it takes"
Latest news
IndyCar veteran Sting Ray Robb secures United Autosports Asian Le Mans seat
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 2 h
IndyCar veteran Sting Ray Robb secures United Autosports Asian Le Mans seat
Five things to look out for at the F1 Mexico GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
5 h
Five things to look out for at the F1 Mexico GP
Every time NASCAR took a win away due yellow line violations
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
5 h
Every time NASCAR took a win away due yellow line violations
Max Verstappen sits out for Red Bull in Mexico GP FP1
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
5 h
Max Verstappen sits out for Red Bull in Mexico GP FP1
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe