Lewis Hamilton is anticipating a Red Bull revival in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. As strong as Mercedes have been, Hamilton knows Red Bull have the ability to close the gap.

“So far, over the first four races, the car has been great,” Hamilton said on the back of three successive wins for the first time in his F1 career.

“Now we head to Barcelona, which has always been a circuit where you can really test the car. It is a downforce-dominant track, so it will be good to see where we really stand.

“But I really do think the Red Bulls have as much downforce as us, maybe a little more, so we can still improve.”

Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have had a stranglehold on Formula One this season and head into the next round having swept the first four races in impressive style.

The switch to V6 turbo hybrid engines has dislodged Red Bull as F1’s dominant team after four seasons and Mercedes was also dealing far better than the rest with the new rule changes.

Hamilton has led a Mercedes one-two finish with Rosberg in the last three races after the German won the season opener. They have also taken all four pole positions and set the fastest lap at each grand prix.

Neither Hamilton nor Rosberg has won at the Circuit de Catalunya, although they did take the top two qualifying positions  last year.

Rosberg, who has a four-point championship lead over Hamilton, said that after years of racing and pre-season tests at Barcelona “there is probably no other track in the world” he knows better.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso enters the race in a distant third place, with 41 points to Rosberg’s 79 and Hamilton’s 75.

The twice world champion has a strong record in front of his home fans, with wins in Barcelona both last year and in 2006 to give him seven career podium finishes at the Spanish GP.