Lewis Hamilton makes 'months' point as Ferrari accelerate Mercedes chase

Lewis Hamilton has explained how Ferrari's chase of Mercedes' F1 engine will take "months", despite a recently upgraded engine.

In Austria, the Scuderia deployed a new power unit, which the team was then able to use to outperform their own expectations last time out at Silverstone, with Charles Leclerc taking victory after Hamilton had claimed Sprint pole. 

Whilst Ferrari's chassis is thought to be class-leading, the downfall of the SF-26 machine is the power unit, which features a smaller turbo compared to rivals. 

This has the advantage of being strong in terms of immediate power delivery out of corners, but means the engine lacks top-end straight-line speed, feeding into a complaint of Hamilton and Leclerc that the Mercedes and Red Bull engines in particular tend to have an advantage at the end of long straights.

Detailing the ongoing process of working to upgrade the power unit to bring it to par with the Mercedes and Red Bull units, Hamilton pointed out that it was not a work of the moment, and would take "months" to design. 

"When it comes to the engine, there is not a huge amount that the driver can do really; it is the guys in the factory and the expertise they bring to the table to discover the changes needed in order to unlock potential within the engine," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365. 

"From a driver's side, every weekend we debrief on things we feel in terms of drivability, when we initially pick up the throttle, to the gear-shifts, the gear ratios and the things we need changing. 

"So we're pushing for changes, or at least highlighting them for the team to go back and test on the simulator and see if it can bring time.

"Sometimes it feels like there is a lack of battery power at the end of the straight because you're seeing it on the overlays to Mercedes and Red Bull, and you sit down and talk about it. 

"But you have to understand that it takes months to design and make changes to get the reliability, and the most amazing thing is that the team have built a reliable car and a reliable engine, and now we can build on that foundation, thanks to the rule change."