Lewis Hamilton has urged Mercedes to make "big moves" after estimating their gap to Red Bull as 1.5 seconds per lap in race pace. The Silver Arrows struggled to match their rivals at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, with Hamilton and teammate George Russell finishing in P5 and P7 respectively. When asked where specifically he feels that Mercedes are losing out to Red Bull around the track, Hamilton explained just how far back the W14 appears to be.
Hamilton: Red Bull even quicker than they seemed
"It's not on the straights [where we are losing out]," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365.com . "Last year, we were very draggy and we were struggling not only on the straights, we had to take a much bigger [rear] wing. "This year, it is mostly through the corners [we're losing out], down the straights we're quick. "But, on exits, [Red Bull] have a lot of rear end through the majority of the corners. "I think in the race they weren't pushing, and so I think they're a lot quicker than they even seemed. But we have it as them [being a] second and a half faster in the race per lap or something like that."
Mercedes need 'bold decisions', says Hamilton
While Hamilton is not hopeful that Mercedes can make progress quickly enough to be in the championship battle, the seven-time World Champion hopes that the team can take "bold decisions" in order to move forwards. "We've got to now start making some bold decisions, some big moves in order to close the gap to these guys [Red Bull], otherwise they will run away with it most likely this year, unless Ferrari can stop them," Hamilton said. "We'll wait and see. Hopefully at some point during the year, we're hopeful we might be able to close the gap. "At that point, it will be probably too late in terms of fighting for a championship, but we can still turn some heads hopefully."
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