The Mercedes is a rocket at the end of the straight: Hamilton takes off last but is 21 km/h slower

A scary deployment We often talk about the superiority of the Mercedes engine using the generic term power, but there is a particular aspect of the goodness of the power unit produced in Brixworth that is increasingly catching the eye: namely the deployment.
This is the management and delivery strategy of the ERS’s electric power, which is fundamental for getting the most out of straight (or overtaking) phases. “They have remarkable power at the end of the straight,” Lewis Hamilton told journalists at the end of the Austrian Grand Prix, later adding an observation: “At a certain point I fell behind and they kept going.” Sign of a notable speed gap between his Ferrari SF-26 and the Mercedes W17 as he approached the braking point. The telemetry speaks clearly: Mercedes flies and Ferrari struggles To seek confirmation of Lewis Hamilton’s words, we asked our Federico Albano, technical and telemetry expert of FormulaPassion.it, for a focus:
For the analysis we chose to examine the point where this difference in speed was most evident at the Red Bull Ring weekend: the straight between Turn 3 and Turn 4. Albano explained: “The traction phase is similar between the three cars, indeed a good passage at Turn 3 also guarantees Hamilton a better initial starting point. From about half the straight onwards the lines open up clearly, reaching top speed before the clipping phase, where Antonelli with the Mercedes and Verstappen with Red Bull are similar. Hamilton on the other hand is already a good 12 km/h slower.
From there until braking, the evident clipping phase begins for both Red Bull and Ferrari, while for Mercedes it is minimal. All three drivers keep the throttle wide open but the speeds drop because the engine begins to cut the electric power: the Ferrari – despite already being slower than its rivals – collapses further, arriving at the braking point a good 21 km/h slower than the Mercedes. It should also be noted that these findings occurred despite the fact that Hamilton himself was the last to take his foot off the gas”. The lap examined was the one relating to Austria’s qualifying, but it was found in practically all the laps in the race. In this stretch of track between 3 and 4 Hamilton loses over a tenth of a second from Max Verstappen and a tenth and a half/two from Antonelli.
In short, Lewis Hamilton’s words are confirmed by telemetry, at the end of the straight the Mercedes is practically a rocket…

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-06-30 12:49:00