Lewis Hamilton labelled his exhibiting in dash qualifying for Components 1’s Austrian Grand Prix as “fairly disastrous” as he admitted he didn’t ship a single good lap.
Mercedes had excessive hopes of a very good exhibiting within the shoot-out for grid positions for Saturday’s dash race, with the automotive having proven some promising tempo early on.
However a scrappy session for Hamilton, who touched the gravel traps a number of instances, left him down in sixth place – two slots behind his team-mate George Russell.
Reflecting on his efficiency, Hamilton mentioned he had fallen in need of what was wanted to be preventing proper on the entrance.
“I wasn’t within the combine in any respect the entire session,” he mentioned. “It was fairly disastrous from my level.
“What can I say? Apply felt good. The automotive usually felt good.
“I do not suppose we had the tempo clearly to be on pole, however, yeah, very unhealthy laps. Each single considered one of them.”
Hamilton didn’t really feel that there was a lot potential to be shifting ahead within the dash, as he mentioned the actual focus was on delivering extra for the official qualifying session on Saturday afternoon.
Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Workforce, walks up the steps of the Mercedes AMG hospitality unit
Photograph by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
“I do not suppose overtaking is like mega right here, however we’ll give it our greatest,” he mentioned.
“It is normally not such an eventful race, so I believe focus shall be totally on getting a greater qualifying tomorrow.”
Russell, who fared barely higher, suspects {that a} too aggressive out lap meant he pushed his tyres too laborious – which means they weren’t within the very best window for the ultimate SQ3 effort.
“The delicate felt actually good to be trustworthy and my lap felt actually sturdy,” he mentioned.
“I used to be fairly shocked on the hole, however I believe I most likely over-egged it on my out laps.
“I took an excessive amount of life out my tyres, on the out lap, and I believe most likely simply took that kind of peak grip away from it.
“That is kind of the one rationalization I’ve received in the mean time, as a result of the lap felt sturdy, most likely the very best lap of the session for me, but it was fairly a step backwards.
“However P4 continues to be an incredible place to be for the battle tomorrow.”
Russell felt that there was potential for him to be battling for a high three end within the dash, as he felt this weekend had delivered affirmation about the place Mercedes stacked up within the pecking order.
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15
Photograph by: Mark Sutton
“Positively preventing for the rostrum tomorrow within the dash,” he mentioned. “However clearly eyes on the primary race is an important.
“However it’s validation, once more, that we’re sort of on this combine now. Most likely a bit forward of Ferrari in the mean time.
“McLaren nonetheless appeared to be a small smidge forward. However yeah, it is good to kind of be on the entrance finish extra persistently.”