Mercedes aren’t favourites to win any of the five remaining races this year, says Lewis Hamilton.

The world championship leader won last week’s race in Russia after he was able to make his single pit stop during a Virtual Safety Car period. But he says Ferrari, who ran one-two in the opening laps of the race, are likely to be the team to beat for the rest of year, largely due to their straight-line speed.

“I think Austin can be good for us,” said Hamilton in Russia last weekend. “The ones where we have the longest straight, it’s harder to offset those long straights like here, Mexico’s not an easy one.

“Brazil could be still good for us because we’re generally working well at the hottest circuits, in general. There’s obviously that one big straight but it’s not killer elsewhere. I think all the other races have quite long straights.”

Hamilton says the team must ensure it delivers on Saturdays so it is in position to exploit its race pace.

“If we get the car in the right position for qualifying, enable ourselves to qualify in the right position, I think we generally have been stronger in most of the race trims,” he said. “But positioning is really everything.

“I don’t think were going to be favourites in these races but I think we can still turn heads.”

Beating Ferrari will be “super hard” in next week’s race at Suzuka, he added. “But not impossible, as we’ve shown.”

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2019 F1 season