Red Bull must fear Hamilton: 'Mercedes worked it out'

Lewis Hamilton left an excellent impression during the first day of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Not only did he set the fastest lap during the first free practice, he also stayed ahead of all other drivers during qualifying for the sprint race. According to Ted Kravitz, this has to do with Hamilton's new combustion engine.

Mercedes announced before the first free practice that the British driver will use this weekend to replace a part of his engine. Team principal Toto Wolff was not sure if Hamilton would need to replace another part of his engine, but in the end, he did. It means that the seven-time world champion will have to move back five places on the grid.

Nevertheless, Hamilton has a good chance of finishing on the podium this season, having beaten Verstappen in qualifying with a good time. "Mercedes has worked out that with a fresher/new power unit they are going to score more points than they would have done with the degrading power unit," Kravitz judged at Sky Sports.

The pit reporter is upbeat about the German racing team this weekend. "They introduced something that makes the engine degrade more than any other PU. They won't say but there is an area. Something in there that has led the power unit to degrade," he added.