SAKHIR, Bahrain -- Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari has the edge at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, especially over a race distance.
Hamilton finished second practice in fifth place after he was forced to abort his quick lap when he was blocked by the Nico Hulkenberg's Renault at Turn 10. But it was over the longer runs that he believes Ferrari really had the edge and he is relying on setup changes overnight to close the gap for Sunday's race.
"Currently Ferrari are quickest," he said. "As far as I am aware they are just a little bit quicker than us on the long run, but on the short run it's close.
"I didn't get to finish my first fast lap with the tyres at their best and the engine at one of its better settings. I did the best job I could later on with worse tyres, but I think we can go quicker. But I don't know where I am compared to the Ferraris [on qualifying pace].
"Again, in race pace it seems they have a little bit of an edge, so we are going to make some changes overnight and see if it puts us in a little bit of a better position on Sunday. But we won't know until Sunday."
Asked about the incident with Hulkenberg, which was investigated by the stewards but did not result in a penalty, Hamilton added: "There's not really much to say. When you finish a very fast lap in practice you do a slow lap to get the tyres cool and that's what he was doing.
"I came up the hill and I was doing easily 100km/h faster than he was but he was right on the racing line. So when I arrived I didn't realise he was going that slow until I got there and I had to take evasive action. But no-one was hurt, so we go on."