Hamilton utterly annoyed with his performance in qualifying
Having topped the final practice session and having looked very quick in the opening stages of qualifying, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton ended up down in P6.
Mercedes used the benefit of slipstream, with George Russell towing Hamilton on the final hot lap. However, while the two-time F1 race winner improved to secure third, Hamilton’s last effort was a touch messy and he had to settle for sixth.
Reflecting on his performance, Hamilton sounded a disappointed note, claiming that he might have had a chance to claim pole position.
"I am very disappointed with how today went. I think we could have been on the front-row, maybe even pole position. Unfortunately, I just didn’t do the job today. I lost one tenth and-a-half through turns one and two, and then one more tenth in the final corner.
Hamilton blamed himself for ending up much lower on the grid than he had expected: “There is nobody else to blame but myself. Qualifying has been a weakness of mine recently, but I’ll keep trying to figure it out.
"We have a good race car. That should give us confidence for tomorrow. The team has done an amazing job to get the W15 into a much better window than it was in Zandvoort. The car has been feeling so much better."
His team-mate George Russell missed crucial running on Friday, but looked very strong in qualifying. The Briton benefitted from a mighty tow from Alexander Albon on his first run, and also received slipstream from a McLaren when he started his final hot lap.
"P3 was a good result today. It was very tight out there between several teams so starting on the second row is not a bad place to be. It took me a little bit of time to get the most out of the car; we looked at how to get the best out of the tyres and I saved my two best laps for last. To be just one tenth off pole position is a little frustrating but overall, we can be happy with our Saturday.
"The McLarens are very quick at the moment. It is super impressive. Hopefully we can challenge them into the first corner and get ahead. If we can’t, I think it will be difficult to race them tomorrow.
“It is very hot out there though and the tyres are suffering. It will be interesting to see what impact that has on the Grand Prix."
