Hamilton and Ferrari Target Improvement After Spanish GP Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton insists both he and Ferrari must “got to work harder” to close the performance gap after missing out on pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion qualified fourth, finishing less than two-tenths of a second behind polesitter Lando Norris.
FP3 Crash Puts Hamilton on Back Foot
Hamilton entered Saturday’s qualifying session at a disadvantage after a heavy crash at the final corner during Free Practice 3. The British driver hit the barrier head-on and was forced to stop his damaged car on track after team radio calls instructed him to pull over rather than return to the pits.
Despite the lost track time, Hamilton recovered impressively. He sat on provisional pole after the opening runs in Q3 before ultimately slipping to fourth in the final classification.
Hamilton Reflects on Qualifying Performance
When asked to assess his day, Hamilton downplayed the earlier incident.
“The only thing to say about FP3 is nothing. Qualifying was pretty decent,”
he said.
“Generally been feeling pretty decent. It takes everything for us to be able to compete with the two powerhouse motors [Mercedes and McLaren] ahead.”
Hamilton pointed to a perceived engine mode advantage for the leading teams during qualifying sessions.
“They just seem to be able to turn the engine up or something when we get to Qualifying which we can’t match. We’ve got to work harder.”
Leclerc Takes Responsibility for Fifth Place
Teammate Charles Leclerc qualified fifth, directly behind Hamilton and also within two-tenths of Norris’s benchmark time. The Monegasque driver believed he over-drove during the decisive final segment.
“I think the lap was pretty good in Q3, it’s a tricky Qualifying where you’ve got to go fully committed into Q3 and I did that,”
Leclerc explained.
“But I felt like I maybe went over the limit a little in some corners and lost a little bit on top of maybe losing down the straights a bit because of running the older spec [engine].”
Leclerc accepted full accountability for the result.
“But at the end, that’s on me. I think we did a good job today and we maximised our potential.”
Both Ferraris start the Spanish Grand Prix from the third row, targeting a strong race pace to challenge the leading Mercedes and McLaren entries.
