Lewis Hamilton says understanding the 2018 Mercedes car will be just as important as the development race if he is to overturn the performance deficit to Ferrari.
Hamilton claimed an unlikely victory in Baku after inheriting the lead from Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, who picked up a puncture in the latter stages due to debris on the start-finish straight. The reigning champion looked on course to finish third before the second Safety Car period, triggered by the Turn 1 collision between Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.
After claiming pole position in Baku, Sebastian Vettel comfortably led the Mercedes duo for much of the race and Hamilton acknowledges that he needs to get on top of his Mercedes if he is to beat Vettel on raw pace this season.
"I think the performance upgrade battle will be important, to see how that development goes between both teams, so that will definitely be important. I think more unlocking the potential of the car,'' Hamilton said after the race. "Australia, we started on the right foot on the Friday and it progressed and got better and better. Since then, every weekend we've generally started a couple of steps - at least - behind the Ferraris and struggled to catch up.
"I don't think we're under any illusions that we have the fastest car or that we don't have work to do, we know that. Everyone's working as hard as they can but we've got to keep pushing, really got to keep pushing. I've got to figure out how to get on top of this car a little bit more. Australia, as I said, I was really comfortable with it and since then I've not been and I don't really know why, so I've got to try and work on that."
Hamilton sits top of the drivers' championship after four races, four points clear of Vettel. The four-time champion admits he made too many mistakes during the race in Baku -- most notably on lap 22 where he locked-up heavily into Turn 1, flat-spotting his tyres and being forced to make an early pit-stop.
"I definitely don't feel relieved at the moment,'' Hamilton replied when asked if he was relieved to lead the championship. "Obviously, I did a good job in qualifying and put myself in a good position - but there were a lot of faults in the race, which is rare for me - but I struggled with the car, struggled with the tyres and that's something I don't take lightly, so I've definitely got to go away from here and work even harder to make sure that there's not a repeat performance-wise of today for myself.''