Hamilton has “no explanation” for his lack of pace in China
The Briton will start from a modest fourth place tomorrow in Shanghai, behind the two Ferraris and his own teammate.
The contrast is rather striking. Quick this Friday, Lewis Hamilton was unable to replicate such a performance this Saturday on the ultra-soft tires. More comfortable with the soft tires during Q2, the Briton erred in Q3. Already more than four-tenths off the pole after the first run, driver #44 lacked composure on the five and a half kilometers of the Shanghai International Circuit. This drift was notably observed due to a mistake in the sixth turn of his last attempt, at the end of the first sector.
Late, Hamilton preferred to abort his attempt by returning to the pits. So, where does the weakness of his Mercedes lie?
« The car was okay but I have no response to that » replied the four-time world champion to the journalists at the end of the session.
In any case, his prospects against Ferrari for the race are hardly any clearer.
« I don’t know if we can compete with them, we were half a second behind today! We were fast last time (editor’s note: in Bahrain) but they kept us at bay. It will be a bit warmer tomorrow so it will be a real challenge for us to see if we can keep up with them. »
Such statements were corroborated by Toto Wolff, the team principal of the team:
« We did not expect Ferrari to be so strong. They really were solid throughout the day. We need to reflect on our level of performance. It was tricky, we lacked grip. There was definitely a tire management issue here. With Bahrain, it was another temperature extreme!
Fortunately for Hamilton, the profile of this very wide track (14 meters) can help him make a difference against the red team.
I think it’s one of the top three tracks for overtaking. The Ferraris will be fast on the straights so it will be interesting to race against them.
To do this, Lewis Hamilton will need to rely on good timing during his only pit stop in the race, a tendency forecasted by Pirelli’s analysts.
Ferrari were just too good, says Lewis#ChineseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/usi6FQcGgQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 14
