Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari losing a 'lot of time' to Mercedes due to engine power

"The car generally felt great, but I think it is on the straights. It's a lot of time to be losing. So, yeah, we have a lot of work to do. We really have to push so hard back in Maranello to improve on power. It was something that I think we were conscious of last year, that we thought that Mercedes started earlier than the rest of us."

"I think car-wise, the car feels great. I think we can compete with them corners, but when you're down on power, it's just the way it is. So they've done a fantastic job, and we've got to step up. We've got to push to be able to close that gap."

"It doesn't really change the picture from where we are. I think in the race, we should be relatively a bit stronger than where we were now in qualifying. However, Mercedes seems to be still a step ahead."

Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint, over 0.6 seconds behind Mercedes' George Russell. Hamilton attributes Ferrari's deficit to power unit performance rather than overall car competitiveness. He notes Ferrari matches Mercedes through corners but loses significant time on straights due to reduced power. Hamilton emphasizes the need for Ferrari's Maranello facility to improve power output, acknowledging Mercedes' earlier development advantage. Teammate Charles Leclerc experienced a 0.5-second loss on the long straight, possibly due to battery deployment issues. Despite qualifying challenges, Leclerc expects Ferrari to be relatively stronger in the race format, though Mercedes maintains a clear advantage.

Read at ESPN.com