Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton makes bold claim about Ferrari

By Asher Fair | Jun 2, 2018

MONTE-CARLO, MONACO - MAY 27: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes WO9 (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images) /

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton made a bold claim about Scuderia Ferrari’s pace up to this point in the 2018 Formula 1 season.

With six races completed in the 2018 Formula 1 season, the championship battle appears to be at least somewhat taking shape. Each of the three top teams, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Scuderia Ferrari and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, have collected two victories, and each of them have done so with just one of their drivers.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel opened up the season with two victories in the Australian Grand Prix and the Bahrain Grand Prix before Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo won the Chinese Grand Prix, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won twice in a row in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the Spanish Grand Prix, and Ricciardo won again in the Monaco Grand Prix.

While not all of the individual races themselves have featured tons of action, such as the Spanish Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix, there have been plenty of exciting moments throughout the season, and the competition as a whole between the sport’s top three teams has certainly been better than it has been in years past.

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In the constructor standings, Mercedes lead with Ferrari in second place and Red Bull Racing in third. In the driver standings, Hamilton leads with his teammate Valtteri Bottas in fourth, Vettel sits in second with his teammate Kimi Raikkonen in fifth and Ricciardo sits in third with his teammate Max Verstappen in sixth.

If not for the two races, the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, during which both of the Red Bull Racing drivers were forced to retire, the team would be a lot closer to the top of the constructor standings than they are and their drivers would be a lot closer to the top of the driver standings than they are, as the competition has been even closer than the standings indicate.

But despite the fact that Red Bull Racing’s point totals do not reflect the speed that they have shown so far this season, the fact that Mercedes have a 22-point lead over Ferrari in the constructor standings (178 to 156) and the fact that Hamilton has a 14-point lead over Vettel (110 to 96) in the driver standings, Hamilton believes that Ferrari have had the best car and Vettel has performed at the highest level.

Here is what Hamilton had to say about the matter, according to ESPN.

"“It’s definitely a three-way fight and Ferrari, I think, are still the strongest. Their car was quick in Monaco, their car was working quite well through the whole season so far and they have dropped the ball a few times and we’ve capitalised on that.“So we are further ahead than we would be if everyone had done the same job, if you know what I mean. But I still feel that they’re the strongest and Sebastian has been doing the strongest job. But it is a three-way battle.”"

With this in mind, are Mercedes really the team to beat in the constructor standings, and is Hamilton really the driver to beat in the driver standings as he pursues his fifth Formula 1 championship like Vettel has been doing since the 2014 season?

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The next Formula 1 race is the Canadian Grand Prix, which is set to take place next Sunday, June 10 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is set to be broadcast live on ABC on that date starting at 2:10 p.m. ET, do be sure that you do not miss it.

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