Mercedes looks specifically at time differences between Hamilton and Verstappen
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Lewis Hamilton sees Max Verstappen as the biggest threat this weekend in Barcelona. Valtteri Bottas can also be a danger, but Hamilton seems to have less trouble with that during the races. There was a moment in free practice that was also striking, with Mercedes looking very closely at what Verstappen was doing.
Hamilton leaves some time
The Red Bull driver is causing nerves at Mercedes. That became clear in the first race at Silverstone and in the second race the Silver Arrows were checking. With a fairly warm temperature, the coming Grand Prix also seems to be somewhat in Red Bull Racing's favour, but we won't really see that until Sunday.
The free practice is mainly to run own programs, collect data and more. Nevertheless, Mercedes already kept an eye on Verstappen. During his session Lewis Hamilton was told on the radio where he left it to the Dutchman. "In turn five and in the run-up to the tenth turn you leave some time behind compared to Verstappen."
This somewhat gives the impression that Mercedes and especially Hamilton are very concerned about how Verstappen behaves on the track. Valtteri Bottas on the other hand - who drove the fastest time - didn't hear such messages on the radio, while the difference between him and Hamilton was very small.