Hamilton: It’s great to see that we’re making progress

Lewis Hamilton is satisfied with the qualifying results and the team’s progress…

Q: Lewis, welcome back to the top three. How much fun was it today?
Lewis Hamilton: Everything is fine today. It’s nice to be back at Saturday’s press conference. I missed this sofa, even though it’s not from IKEA.

It’s great to see that we’re making progress. In the last two races we are gradually closing in on the leaders. Today the car has become even more efficient, but we still have to improve some things. However, I am very happy to start third on the track with a long straight before the first corner.

Question: You are a few tenths away from pole position. Did you expect to be this close?
Lewis Hamilton: Three tenths is quite a lot, although the result on this circuit is not bad. Maybe I could have played another tenth, but these guys have an advantage.

Such a small gap in Barcelona indicates that we are moving in the right direction. We have a number of interesting new products. I hope they will close the gap even further.

Question: Can you fight for victory tomorrow?
Lewis Hamilton: It will be difficult. These two are very fast, but a lot depends on the position on the track. I hope that together George and I can put pressure on both cars at the front to change something in the strategy and gradually rise to the top. In a race everything depends on the degradation of the tires, on how long you can keep them.

Question: You said it would be difficult to fight for the win, but what are the chances of a podium given that you have one Red Bull car and both Ferraris behind you?
Lewis Hamilton: The bigger concern is Ferrari. From third to fifth place – half a tenth. They got some new gear this weekend and were very fast on the course on Friday.

It is important that we work together and try to maintain this position. If we have more speed in the race and can stay behind these guys, then the game is on. But we won’t know the answer until tomorrow.

Question: It has happened more than once this season that you looked good in training, but not everything worked out in qualifying. What helped this time?
Lewis Hamilton: Also this time I feel like I lost a bit in the qualifications. On the one hand, everything has improved, but our car does not like to be pushed. During training you leave a small margin and the car behaves fine. But when you really start attacking and trying to get more out of her, problems arise. And I think it’s all about the tires.