Hamilton admits Mercedes not capable of winning races yet

Sport
Lewis Hamilton says his Mercedes car will not be fast enough to compete for victories at the start of the season.

Lewis Hamilton says his Mercedes car will not be fast enough to compete for victories at the start of the season.

— BBCSport

The Englishman said on the final day of the second pre-season test that the team still needed to find aerodynamic performance to compete with the best.

Hamilton said: “We’re not looking at wins at the moment. We’re hoping to get into the points and fight for top 10.

“It’s not fast enough to be quickest over one lap but it’s not slow, that’s for sure.”

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso predicted last month that Hamilton would win races with Mercedes this season following his move from McLaren.

But Hamilton, while admitting wins were “not impossible”, rejected the notion that Mercedes would be able to compete at the front at the start of the season in Australia on March 17.

“People are talking us up at the moment — (Sebastian) Vettel and Fernando saying we’re going to be competing for the world championship… Well, I really don’t see that happening at the moment,” Hamilton said.