Lewis Hamilton makes Mercedes plea and admits to Ferrari worry after Sebastian Vettel pace

Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas are currently leading the F1drivers standings ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel with the two winning all seven of this season’s races so far.

At the most recent Canadian Grand Prix, Hamilton won his fifth race ahead of Vettel who was controversially hit with a time penalty.

Hamilton’s victory took him to 162 points, 29 points ahead of Bottas and 62 ahead of rival Vettel.

However, Vettel’s performance at the Grand Prix has given Hamilton and Mercedes cause for concern ahead of the upcoming race in France.

“They were so quick on the straights,” Hamilton said.“They definitely have another power mode that we currently don’t have.

“So, all of a sudden they turn up the power and he pulls away massively on the straight, even if I have DRS open.”

This will be a source of worry for the defending champion as Ferrari look to cut down both his and his team’s early lead in the F1 standings.

Ferrari constantly outperformed the other teams in top speed during the race and this was highlighted by Mercedes chief Toto Wolff as being worth nearly six-tenths on the straights.

However, despite winning the race, Hamilton says this proves Ferrari now have a superior engine to Mercedes.

Credit: Matthew Cooper, express.co.uk