Lewis Hamilton yesterday achieved the fifth fastest time in the qualifying session for the São Paulo Formula 1 Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver was 0.660s behind Max Verstappen’s pole position (Red Bull), before the bad weather forced the premature cancellation of Q3.
The British driver emphasized that he did his best with a car that he considers not to have been very fast: ‘Fifth place will never look that good. However, I did the best I could and hopefully we will have a better race on Sunday. The car was showing signs of reasonable performance, but we seem to be a few tenths away from the front drivers. We made some changes before qualifying and they seemed to make the car a little more pleasant to drive. However, overall, it was not particularly fast’.
According to Hamilton, it is possible that the weather conditions in Q3 prevented them from displaying their full potential: ‘The conditions and circumstances at the end of Q3 may have put us a little further back than our true pace would show. However, it is difficult to say with any confidence’.
The seven-time world champion also said: ‘Throughout the rest of the weekend, I think we have a battle on our hands. Brake overheating and tire management will be important, but if we can use our strategy to progress, then we will do that’.
