For Hamilton, the new regulation "aims to bring down" Mercedes

2021-03-27T20:43:23.981Z

The Silver Arrows were dominated by Red Bull in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix. According to Lewis Hamilton, seven-time world champion, the new regulations introduced by Formula 1 are intended to "bring down" Mercedes, whose single-seaters will start Sunday behind Max Verstappen (Red Bull) at the Bahrain Grand Prix, first of the year . “It's no secret that these changes are meant to make us regress. But that's okay, we like challenges and we don't look at these things negativ

According to Lewis Hamilton, seven-time world champion, the new regulations introduced by Formula 1 are intended to "bring down" Mercedes, whose single-seaters will start Sunday behind Max Verstappen (Red Bull) at the Bahrain Grand Prix, first of the year .

“It's no secret that these changes are meant to make us regress.

But that's okay, we like challenges and we don't look at these things negatively, we'll just keep working hard to do our best, ”said the defending champion at a press conference after qualifying on Saturday.

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Cutout flat bottom

These regulatory changes, which came into effect this winter, particularly at the level of the flat bottom of single-seaters, are officially aimed at reducing the aerodynamic downforce by 10% in order to preserve Pirelli tires that were abused last year.

If the cars remain essentially the same as in 2020, with in particular a freezing of the chassis, a few centimeters had to be "cut" at the rear of the flat bottom.

This difference and the other minor changes forced the teams to work on new aerodynamic solutions.

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And for the moment, Red Bull seems to be doing better than Mercedes, whose drivers Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will start 2nd and 3rd on Sunday.

“The gap (with Red Bull) is clearly tighter than we expected.

I think this is a very good step forward for us.

We thought (after the winter tests, editor's note) that we were going to have double the gap that you see today (+0.388) and this is due to a really fantastic job of the men and women of the factory ”, Hamilton applauded.

Verstappen, who has obtained the fourth pole of his career, points to him "several factors" to explain his excellent performance. Having a forward tilt, which seems to favor Red Bull this year, is "our philosophy for a long time".

“But I also think on the engine side, Honda has worked really hard to improve it and they have done a great job,” he said, as the Japanese engine manufacturer attacks its final year before retiring. the F1.