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Hamilton: I don't think Mercedes have the pace to overtake Verstappen

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton has vowed to throw everything at Max Verstappen and Red Bull on Sunday, but admitted he doesn't feel he has the raw pace to overtake the Dutch driver.

Lewis Hamilton has said he will keep up the pressure on Red Bull throughout Sunday's race at the Red Bull Ring, but has admitted that he doesn't feel he has the outright pace to beat Max Verstappen to victory. The Mercedes man will start from the front row, despite having qualified in third place, due to Valtteri Bottas having a three place grid penalty that demotes the Finn from second place. Hamilton said that the chances of overtaking Verstappen are slim. "They've generally had a quarter of a second on us all weekend," Hamilton told the media after the session. "I think we've managed to eke closer in qualifying but, in race trim yesterday, they were 0.25 ahead of us most of the time, so it'll be interesting to see whether or not we can manage it. I don't think we have the raw pace to overtake them, that's for sure." But, never one to shy away from a fight, Hamilton promised to give Red Bull as big of a headache as he can. "I'm going to be giving everything obviously but I'm still not feeling pace, but maybe tomorrow we will be surprised. Maybe it rains!" he said. "Well done to Max, they've been so fast this weekend, so I've been given absolutely everything, and just wasn't the greatest of sessions but, nonetheless, we're still on the front row obviously after Valtteri's penalty so I did everything I could and we go into a race tomorrow for a fight."

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