54 thousandths of a second. So little was Lewis Hamilton to get back to pole position in Formula 1. In Singapore the 7-time world champion was among the great protagonists of qualifying, but things did not go exactly as expected.
Although he was among the most accredited drivers in the fight for pole, Hamilton was mocked by both Charles Leclerc, author of the best time, and by a revived Sergio Perez. Tomorrow, in fact, he will start from the first box of the second row.
To mock Lewis was a lack of grip right in the highlight of Q3. “I was pushing so hard, it was so, so close to pole. I was trying hard. These guys are always so fast. But I really thought that with a perfect lap, which was really hard to get, we could fight for the first place”.
“But I didn’t have the necessary grip on the last lap, but still I’m grateful to be on the second row and I’m grateful to the team for continuing to push and keep my head down, hoping that tomorrow will be a better day.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
“It is the first qualifying of the year that I do in the top three. I felt I could get to the front row and I was hoping for pole. It didn’t go that way. Winning? It will be really hard because getting back here is very difficult. We will have to be perfect in strategy. that we will have the pace to fight with the Ferraris, but here it cannot be overcome. Everything will be decided on strategy and tire management “.
Hamilton confirmed that he knew this weekend would be much closer to the best than what was seen on pure power and aerodynamic efficiency tracks like Monza and Zandvoort.
“Yes, we didn’t know how close we would be this weekend. We knew the car would be stronger than in Monza. But we didn’t know how close we would be. But losing by a hair … that’s okay. Tomorrow we will get up and fight again”.
In addition to the disappointment for the second row, here is the insult. A Mercedes team representative will have to appear before the race marshals for an inappropriate completion of the Self Scrutineering Form regarding Lewis Hamilton. It should still be the piercing issue, which Hamilton has already been the focus of this weekend.
#Hamilton #pace #Ferraris #overtake