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Lewis Hamilton said he doesn’t feel connected to his Mercedes car after a stunning performance in qualifying for Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion qualified eighth while his teammate George Russell was fourth, but both drivers will gain a spot on the grid on Sunday as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc faces a 10-spot penalty.
“I was just struggling to get the performance out,” said Hamilton, who has complained about the team’s new W14 car this season and whose future has been speculated about this week.
“The car is where it is… I mean, George did a great job, he’s right up there on the second row. So the car obviously has power.
“I just don’t feel connected to this car. No matter what I do, no matter what I change, I can’t get faith in it.
“Right now it definitely feels like I just can’t get out of the car.”
Russell admitted he expects Red Bull’s defending champion Max Verstappen will have little trouble progressing from 15th on the grid after retiring in Q2 when suffering a driveshaft failure.
His Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez secured pole position ahead of Leclerc and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
“Red Bull are just doing an excellent job, the gap to the rest of the field is bigger than we’ve seen anyone in six, seven, eight years so it’s pretty impressive,” said Russell.
“I think Max will get through pretty easily if there are no incidents.”
– Mercedes “can fight for podium” –
Verstappen won the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix after a starting penalty.
“We saw what Max did at Spa last year where he started 15th and this year he has a faster car,” added Russell.
“But we can definitely fight for a podium. It seems closer here with Aston Martin and Ferrari who might have a tenth or two behind us but we’re ahead of them so there’s no reason why we can’t fight for a podium.”
Alonso, who had been hoping for a chance to secure his first pole in 11 years when Verstappen retired, will be aiming for his 100th podium finish of his career.
“It was a very good weekend for us,” he said. “Qualifying was a weakness or weak point in Bahrain but today the car seemed to do very well on one lap.
“Let’s see what we can do from here! As Charles has a penalty, obviously we’ll start from the front row so it’s going to be fantastic.”
He conceded that winning the race would be difficult.
“We’re not in that position yet. Red Bull are in a different league in pure speed, so I think we have to focus on the other teams behind them and if something happens we’ll try to take the opportunity.”
“Formula 1 is not exact mathematics, you know! So anything can happen, like today. It happens sometimes.”
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