Hamilton: Mercedes “can definitely close the gap" to Red Bull 

The seven-time world champion was left despondent and claimed Mercedes were a “long way off” their F1 rivals after a difficult Friday practice in Bahrain. 

Mercedes enjoyed a more competitive showing in qualifying despite ending up over six-tenths adrift of Max Verstappen, who claimed pole position ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. 

The deficit to the front was around the same as it was 12 months ago, but Mercedes are confident they are starting 2023 in better shape after eradicating the porpoising issues that plagued their troubled W13 car. 

And Hamilton is optimistic that Red Bull can be caught over the course of the season. 

“On a single lap, six tenths, you can catch it,” he told Sky. “We were six tenths [behind] last year at this time but had bouncing and all sorts of things. 

“It’s not an impossible mountain to climb, so that's a positive, and I know everyone back at the factory has been working so hard. 

"We can definitely close the gap, we've just got really focus and push like never before."

Hamilton will line-up seventh on the grid for 2023’s curtain raiser after being outpaced by teammate George Russell by just 0.044s. 

The 38-year-old revealed he set his car up more towards the race than for single lap performance. 

“We went in [to qualifying] with a really open mind,” he explained. “I woke up this morning thinking we were going to be a lot further behind, and so the fact we're even getting into Q3 was great.

"We made a step forward today so the car was feeling much more alive this morning, and all of a sudden we were in a different place to where we were the day before. 

"But then we got to qualifying and for me the car just didn't feel alive, it felt kind of average.

"The direction I've gone with my set-up, I'm hoping it will work better tomorrow because I've tried to set it up for tomorrow, but it made it a little bit difficult for qualifying.”