Lewis Hamilton joined a consensus opinion expressed in the Barcelona paddock today, saying that Ferrari’s pace was better than the already impressive performance we have seen.

The Mercedes stalwart set the second fastest time of the day, achieved in the morning,  just three tenths shy of Vettel’s 1:19.024 morning benchmark lap.

“It was good to get some laps in this morning with slightly lower fuel. We worked on balance and made quite a few changes.

“I learned a lot about the car before handing over to Valtteri. We were trying to simulate something a bit more like qualifying and the car felt good on lower fuel. It’s great to feel it come together.

With Vettel clearly sandbagging on his fastest mroning run, Hamilton reckons the Scuderia has yet to unleash the true potential of its SF70H.

“I think Ferrari are bluffing and that they are a lot quicker than they are showing. They’re very close to us.

“It’s difficult right now to say exactly who is quicker. But they are very close, if not faster. Whatever the case, I can’t wait to go out and compete. Just a couple more weeks to go…”

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