Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes cannot compete for wins after Bahrain testing

Lewis Hamilton said Mercedes are not in a position to compete for wins, as pre-season testing ended in Bahrain.

Hamilton said the car had «potential» but was «not at the top» and insisted he was not deliberately understating his prospects.

«Next week we will get a much better showing of our pace,» said Hamilton.

Max Verstappen was fastest after an impressive afternoon in a Red Bull featuring a major aerodynamic upgrade that appeared to transform the car.

The new season starts at the same Sakhir track next weekend, and seven-time champion Hamilton said he believed Mercedes were no better than third fastest team after a difficult build-up to the championship.

«I'm sure everyone can figure that out — we are not the quickest at the moment,» he said. «Ferrari look to be the quickest, then perhaps Red Bull, and then maybe us or maybe McLaren, I don't know. But we're currently not at the top.»

And when it was pointed out that many in F1 believed Mercedes are hiding their true potential, he replied: «I think people will be surprised maybe. Or at least people keep talking about us talking ourselves down. But it's a bit different this year.»

Hamilton's remarks were made before world champion Verstappen set the fastest time of the three-day test in the Red Bull.

The car featured a substantial upgrade for Saturday's running that appeared to have transformed its pace.

Verstappen set a series of fastest times, ending up 0.695 seconds quicker than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

The Dutchman's fastest time was set on tyres one grade softer than Leclerc's but he was more than 0.4secs quicker than the Ferrari when using the same compound of tyres.

Fernando Alonso went third quickest right at the end of the session, just under a second slower than the