• Mercedes

Red Bull has more downforce - Hamilton

ESPN Staff
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Lewis Hamilton is wary about Mercedes' advantage coming down in Spain © Getty Images
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Lewis Hamilton suspects the Red Bull has got more downforce than his Mercedes and will therefore be closer at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

The Circuit de Catalunya rewards downforce more than engine power and could be Red Bull's best opportunity this season to get close to Mercedes.

"The Red Bulls are in the back of my mind thinking that they have a car that has a little bit more downforce than us, they just don't have as much power as us maybe," Hamilton said. "Here is a circuit where it is very much a downforce dependant circuit, so I think this weekend will be a real good indication of how good their car is. Definitely Fernando [Alonso] picked up a lot of pace at the last race, so it's the Red Bulls and Ferraris that we're going to keep an eye out for.

"We have less straights here and shorter straights as well. When you look at data or you look at GPS followings of other teams their loss is in the latter parts of the straights so you've reduced that significantly here.

"So, naturally already before everyone has put the upgrades on this weekend the gap would be closer I think. Everyone is going to be bringing upgrades this weekend - some more than others - so it will be interesting to see if that gap is still there or not."

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