Lewis Hamilton mentioned he doesn’t “really feel related” with his Mercedes car after an underwhelming performance in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Saturday.
The seven-time world champion qualified eighth while teammate George Russell took fourth, but both drivers will gain a place on the grid on Sunday because Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc faces a 10-place grid penalty.
“I just struggled to extract the performance,” mentioned Hamilton, who has complained concerning the staff’s new W14 automotive this season and whose future has been a topic of hypothesis this week.
“The automotive is the place it’s… I imply, George did an incredible job, he’s proper up there on the second row. So, the automotive’s clearly obtained efficiency.
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“I simply don’t really feel related to this automotive. No matter what I do, it doesn’t matter what I alter, I can’t get confidence in it.
“At the second, it undoubtedly seems like I simply couldn’t get any extra out of the automotive.”
Russell admitted that he expected Red Bull’s defending world champion Max Verstappen to have little difficulty in progressing from 15th on the grid, having been eliminated in Q2 when he suffered a driveshaft failure.
His Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez took pole position ahead of Leclerc and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
“Red Bull are just doing an excellent job, the gap to the rest of the field is bigger than we’ve seen in anyone for six, seven, eight years, so it is pretty impressive,” mentioned Russell.
“I believe Max goes to come via fairly simply until there are any incidents.”
– Mercedes ‘can fight for podium’ –
Verstappen won the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix after a grid penalty.
“We saw last year what Max did in Spa, where he started 15th, and this year he has a faster car,” added Russell.
“But, we will undoubtedly battle for a podium. It appears nearer right here with Aston Martin and Ferrari, who perhaps have a tenth or two on us, however we’re beginning forward of them, so there’s no purpose why we will’t battle for a podium.”
Alonso, who had been hoping for a chance to secure his first pole in 11 years when Verstappen was eliminated, will be seeking his 100th career podium finish.
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“It’s been a very good weekend for us,” he mentioned. “Qualifying was a weak point or a weak level in Bahrain, however immediately the automotive appeared to carry out very effectively on one lap.
“So, let’s see what we will do from right here! Obviously, with Charles having a penalty, we begin from the entrance row so that is simply going to be superb.”
He conceded that it would be difficult to win the race.
“We are not in that position yet. In pure pace, Red Bull is in another league so I think we have to concentrate on the other teams behind and, if something happens, we will try to take the opportunity.
“Formula One is not exact mathematics, you know! So anything can happen, like today. It happens sometimes.”
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(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed)
