Hamilton hampered by car 'deficit' compared to Leclerc

Lewis Hamilton says there has “been a bit of a deficit” on his car compared to teammate Charles Leclerc after finishing seventh at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Leclerc delivered a strong performance to qualify fourth and hold off the two Mercedes drivers to retain that position in the race at Suzuka, while Hamilton was eighth on the grid and overtook Isack Hadjar to secure seventh. That was the only position change in the top ten during the race, and Hamilton says he believes he has been getting the maximum out of his car given an issue with an unspecified component.

“I'm happy when I move forwards,” Hamilton said. “I'm really hoping in the next race we'll see, hopefully, some positive changes. Through the first three races, there's been a bit of a deficit between both sides of the garage on an element of the car, so on my side, something [is] underperforming. So, it's good to know, with what I had, that's the best results.”

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Hamilton suggested the difference could be worth in the region of a tenth of a second per lap, but while he hopes to make progress at the upcoming Bahrain Grand Prix he warns Ferrari still has a big margin to close to the likes of McLaren and Mercedes.

“My pace, I think considering [the deficit], was maximum – I didn't have anything else in the car. Performance missing at the rear of the car this weekend, and obviously qualifying position is key,” he said.

“I think I probably would have been overtaken by McLarens and the Mercedes too if I was any further ahead. And I'm hoping the next race could be, somehow, an interesting exercise.

“It's definitely going to be interesting [in Bahrain], I just hope we're a little bit closer. We're probably the fourth fastest car at the moment, and I think we are a little bit off the other guys in terms of performance, downforce-level wise. So, we've got so much to do to close the gap.

“We’re making slow progress with the car. It will be interesting to see when people get upgrades over the season. We’ve got a lot of work to be able to close the gap into the top cars, the top guys, they've probably got three or four tenths on us, so we've got a lot of work to bring upgrades for that.”