Lewis Hamilton has admitted ahead of the returning Qatar Grand Prix that he’s excited to fight Ferrari for second in the Constructors’ Championship, a position he admits he never expected Mercedes to be contesting.
Formula returns to the Losail International Circuit for the next Grand Prix for the first time since 2021, a race which was won by the seven-time World Champion.
Qatar didn’t feature on the calendar last season due to the nation preparing for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which they held last December.
It’s a very fast circuit with several high-speed sweeping corners, something Mercedes have actually struggled with this season.
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Mercedes’ strengths have been performance in low and medium-speed turns, meaning they could be weaker than Ferrari in the Middle Eastern nation.
The Silver Arrows currently boast a 20-point advantage over Ferrari in the fight for second, although it’s the Italians with the momentum.
Ferrari have really unlocked some performance from the SF-23 recently, something which saw Carlos Sainz claim back-to-back pole positions in Italy and Singapore, whilst he was even victorious at the latter.
Mercedes have continued to struggle when it comes to producing rapid laps in qualifying, whereas this is an area Ferrari have tended to thrive since the introduction of the new aerodynamic regulations in 2022.
However, the Brackley-based team do appear to still have the edge when it comes to race pace, with Hamilton and George Russell simply needing to qualify as close to the front as possible to make the most of this particular advantage over Ferrari.
It’s a fight which certainly looks set to go all the way to the season finale in Abu Dhabi, with it being an “exciting” situation to be a part of, according to the 103-time race winner.
“It’s exciting that we have this race, this battle at the moment,” Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365.com.
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“Just like them [Ferrari], we started off pretty poorly at the beginning of the season.
“Definitely didn’t expect ourselves to be second in the constructors and to now be relatively close, particularly in the last couple of races and be fighting in the constructors.
“It’s exciting for us as a team. And of course we want to beat them just as they want to beat us so it’s going to take a full team effort, that’s for sure.”