Lewis Hamilton insists that he has “nonetheless bought it”, regardless of the present struggles he’s having in extracting tempo from his Mercedes F1 automobile.
The seven-time world champion continues to face frustrations in getting probably the most out of himself in qualifying, as he once more completed adrift of his team-mate George Russell in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix.
Whereas Russell put his automobile on the entrance row, Hamilton ended up sixth on the grid, 0.436 seconds again.
This was a much bigger hole than the 0.399 deficit in dash qualifying that had left him confessing that “I am undoubtedly not quick anymore.”
However whereas not hiding from the truth that he has had a troublesome season and issues had been undoubtedly not gelling as he hoped, Hamilton mentioned on Saturday that deep down he felt he nonetheless had all of the potential he wanted to ship in F1.
“Yeah, I do know I’ve nonetheless bought it,” he mentioned. “Simply the automobile will not go any sooner, I undoubtedly know I’ve bought it nonetheless. It is not a query in my thoughts. [But I’m] wanting ahead to the top.”
Whereas Hamilton once more mentioned that his Mercedes automobile was feeling “respectable” in qualifying, he nonetheless believed there was no hiding from the truth that the deficit to Russell was nonetheless fairly massive.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Pictures
“I am sluggish,” he mentioned. “I am half a second off my team-mate in the identical automobile.”
Requested if the remarks about his tempo had been a broader factor past simply this weekend, he mentioned: “No, it has been all 12 months.”
Hamilton provided no solutions as to what was not working for him proper now, as he additionally steered that there can be no fast resolution that may unlock one thing earlier than the top of the season.
“It is not attainable to vary it. Proper now,” he admitted.
Hamilton completed sixth within the earlier dash race, after exhibiting some sturdy pace – and getting concerned in a battle with future Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.
And after barely regretting not having pushed extra robustly, he vowed to play issues a bit harder if there have been repeat circumstances on Sunday.
“Yeah, it was alright,” he mentioned. “It was truthful. Good and shut. I imply, I did not defend: I ought to have defended, however I did not.
“He was a bit faster than me and he was in all probability going to return by anyway. So if I am in the identical place once more tomorrow, I will put extra of a combat out for positive.”
Learn Additionally:
On this article
Jonathan Noble
System 1
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
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