Lewis Hamilton braced for renewed Red Bull attack: 'They're a force'

Lewis Hamilton believes Red Bull will be a "force to be reckoned with" in coming F1 races after its huge weight-shedding Austrian GP upgrade.

Red Bull's RB22 chassis started the season overweight, and although some of it was reduced over the first seven races, it was not until the Austrian GP that the final kilos, estimated to be around 9kg, were eliminated from the car.

This allowed Max Verstappen to be a contender for pole position before his spin off in Q3, and in the race, Verstappen passed Hamilton for track position and closed down a 10-second gap to leader George Russell to under two seconds by the flag.

At races such as Monaco, the RB22 was already strong whilst overweight, with Verstappen taking second on the grid, and now the weight has been removed, Hamilton believes the Milton Keynes-based squad has firmly placed itself in contention to regularly challenge at the front. 

"They made a huge step this weekend, and I think they must have brought a three-to-four tenth upgrade," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365. 

"Three-tenths was just from the weight that they dropped from the car, which is huge considering they were so close in some of the races, like Monaco, and they were nine kilos overweight.

"It is a good showing that they've got a good car, and they've lost the weight and then brought lots of upgrades; they're going to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming races."