Lewis Hamilton: We didn’t expect to have the pace
Behind the wheel of a car less competitive than previous years, Lewis Hamilton qualified only in 5th position.
Despite finishing only 5th, over 7 tenths behind Charles Leclerc’s pole position, Lewis Hamilton said he was happy with his Saturday.
A result that could have seemed disappointing for the seven-time world champion in the past 8 seasons, except that now the British driver no longer has a car that guarantees him to fight for the title.
The last time Lewis Hamilton found himself in a similar situation was in 2013.
The reason for this satisfaction from the 2021 dolphin is the progress that the Star brand has made between the Bahrain winter tests and Saturday’s qualifications.
Last week, the car was a disaster so we didn’t expect to have the pace we have today. We worked very hard to make improvements and find solutions for this car in order to stay in touch with the cars ahead of us.
Indeed, Hamilton is only three tenths behind Sergio Perez’s Red Bull just ahead of him. If Mercedes has already made up some of its deficit in the first race of the season, it’s highly likely that by the end of the season, the German team will have found their way back to victory.
