Hamilton Admits McLaren Is One Second Slower than Rivals

Lewis Hamilton ended the recent Barcelona group test with the 14th best time of the pack, as McLaren focused mainly on long runs and race trim solutions. That being said, the lap times recorded by the MP4-26 – approximately 2 seconds behind the pace-setters – were not even close to being competitive, yet the 2008 F1 champion doesn't sound too pessimistic before the start of the new season.

Talking to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport recently, Ham fended off worries that his car is 2 seconds slower than its rivals, insisting that its behavior in the long runs is pretty much similar to that of Ferrari's and Red Bull's challengers.

“We are not two seconds from the top, even though I never made it out of the 1.22s,” he insisted. “But in the long runs, the lap times are okay,” he added.

Asked about the capabilities of his racer in qualifying-style runs, Ham admitted however that the best he could squeeze out of his MP4-26 would be a “low 1.22”. And considering the best time of Barcelona, recorded by Michael Schumacher on his improved Mercedes W02, that's still a whole second behind in the timing reports.

In addition, McLaren also struggled with some mechanical problems on Circuit de Catalunya last week, as Hamilton's mileage was affected early on by a hydraulic leak. Also, the aforementioned German publication noted that the British team still has issues related to their exhaust system, which features a more conventional design last week (as compared to its revolutionary forward-directed layout in early to mid February).

“Let's keep our fingers crossed that the guys come up with something,” admitted Hamilton, hinting that there are still a few issues that the McLaren mechanics need to figure out before the season opening race in Melbourne.