Hamilton: I see signs of progress, which is reassuring

Lewis Hamilton says he could have been battling for a front row spot if it weren’t for the difficulties encountered during his decisive try at turn 10. And he explained the incident with his teammate Mercedes by the lack of a clear exchange of information during qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton (5th): “First of all, when I saw that we had risen to such high positions, it really surprised me, because we were actually fighting for a front row spot.

Last night we did a great job analyzing the results of the training. I stayed on the track until 11pm trying to figure out how to improve. And when I woke up this morning, I was already looking forward to a decisive fight.

But I definitely didn’t expect that we would fight for the front row. Although already during practice I felt that the car as a whole became noticeably faster. I’m grateful to everyone who works at the base in Brackley, because the result shows that we’re making progress, and that’s great to see. Today piloting gave me pleasure.

Up to turn 10 I was running at a pace that allowed me to rely on the front row, but as I entered this corner and then started to accelerate, the rear of the car skidded sharply. We need to find out what happened there, but then I lost two tenths.

However, it cannot be said that I am dying of frustration. Maybe it would be if I were fighting for the title. But I’m already seeing signs of progress and that’s encouraging – I hope we can regain positions tomorrow.

When we talk to George about the incident, it happened because of a lack of clear communication. But I didn’t feel much difference in the car’s behavior after contact, although it started to pull a little to the right. And yet I drove a good circle on the last attempt.

George Russell (12th): “I was completely unaware that Lewis was overtaking me. I started my lap, tried to use the slipstream for Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari… Luckily nothing bad happened.

To be honest, in qualifying everything that could happen happened. As soon as I left the pits, I immediately felt that the tires were not holding the track at all. In fast corners the build-up started and I couldn’t pass them at full speed.

Overall it was a very strange qualifying and I’m not surprised I got out of contention in the second session. The car didn’t have enough speed. The sensations were so-so, and of course I am very upset.

We changed some settings, but did nothing to increase the pace significantly. The only way I can somehow explain such a low result is that the conditions were very difficult for everyone. But we still shouldn’t have been in that position. It’s very unfortunate that this happened.”