F1 chief Rob Smedley eases Lewis Hamilton fears with clear warning to Red Bull and Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton may not be confident of Mercedes turning things around quickly with the development of their W13, but F1's Technical Consultant, Rob Smedley, holds a different view entirely. It's been a frustrating start to the season for Mercedes in the opening two races.

While they bagged an unexpected podium in Bahrain, the team were brought back down to earth in Saudi Arabia. Hamilton struggled all weekend last time out as the seven-time world champion failed to get out of Q1 before finishing 10th in the race.

George Russell has been more consistent over both races, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. But Mercedes are currently trailing both Red Bull and Ferrari for race pace by some distance heading into the Australian Grand Prix.

Both drivers have aired their concerns on how long it will take the team to catch those fighting at the front. However, Smedley doesn't think it will be long until Mercedes find the right package on their W13.

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"Mercedes would be the first to admit that they haven't got it right," Smedley told Reuters. "Ferrari have done a really good job in moving up and being right there with Red Bull.

"But I would expect that to change now more than any other year as people find big chunks of performance in lots of different areas. The development phase of the car is at such an immature stage, the cars will change significantly from the first race to the final race.

"There's going to be a very, very strong development curve on those cars."

Speaking ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Hamilton stated that he doesn't think Mercedes will be fighting for race wins until May at the earliest.

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