Singapore GP | Hamilton: “ Ferrari’s performance was unexpected”.
Lewis Hamilton is surprised about Ferrari’s result in Singapore, admitting that he does not know how the Italian team has managed to make significant improvements at Marina Bay.
Charles Leclerc obtained his third consecutive pole position in Singapore, with the Ferrari showing an outstanding performance comparatively to the Mercedes rivals. His team mate Sebastian Vettel was able to compete for the pole position as well, with the fastest lap on the first Q3 attempt.
Despite, Lewis Hamilton, with the best third sector, managed to separate the two SF90s and will start from the first row tomorrow behind the Monegasque talent.
Hamilton was taken by surprise to find Ferrari extremely competitive at Marina Bay. Indeed, the Maranello’s team has brought an entire new aerodynamic package, including a new nose and floor, that, additionally to the engine power, has allowed Charles Leclerc to set the fastest lap.
Asked about what is the main competitive advantage of the revolutionized SF90, Hamilton answered that he his not sure about the main origin of the Ferrari’s performance.
"I don't know where they have picked up their pace for a street circuit like this.
"Earlier on in the year they were not as close. They've obviously done a great job.
"I don't really know where we're losing it, the first sector is a bit of a loss to us, part of it is a straight line but they are able to match us in the middle and the last sector.
"Overall, clearly a big step for then.
"We'll just keep pushing. We've not had an upgrade for a while so maybe when that comes that will help us a little bit."
Hamilton continued remarking how Ferrari overcome his expectations, underlying, on the other side, that he is happy for the final result, as he managed to slit Charles Leclerc from Sebastian Vettel.
"All of a sudden they've brought an upgrade here and it seems to have worked," he said.
"Of course we were not expecting to have such a strong performance from them and have such a deficit to them, but they've done a great job.
💬 “I'm really glad to be on the front row and I hope that I can fight tomorrow with the Ferraris - it's going to be a tough one, but not impossible.”
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 21 settembre 2019
More from LH 👉 https://t.co/JGKS8WrgKx #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/Z6cegZwqUJ
"I was grateful I was able to split them, only just. We were lacking pace today.
"It was definitely a struggle to be up there, but I like how close it was between us all. "Hopefully that puts us in a good stead for good fights."
