F1 | Azerbaijan GP | Hamilton: "A difficult qualifying session"
Solid qualifying for Lewis Hamilton today as he made his way to P7 ahead of Sunday's race. Hamilton states how to better improve tomorrow in regards with porpoising and team strategy for a hopeful double points
After what was a tricky qualifying session disrupted with red and yellow flags, Lewis Hamilton makes it a P7 start.
P5 for George and P7 for Lewis on the #AzerbaijanGP grid! Plenty of opportunity, tomorrow! 💪 pic.twitter.com/EGnelR35DY
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) June 11, 2022
With the W13 suffering from ride difficulties and labouring for performance on the uneven Baku track, qualifying fifth was the realistic goal for today; that's where his teammate George Russell ended up.
Strategy will most certainly be important tomorrow, and with a high likelihood of incidents, the team will be seeking to stay in the hunt and grasp any opportunity to progress up the field.
Hamilton says, "There’s lots to look forward to tomorrow!"
He continues, "It’s a tricky and chaotic race with lots that can happen. It was a difficult qualifying session because we’re constantly pushing. We have a very, very small window where we can work this car, and everything we try doesn’t give us what we want."
He adds, "We’re making lots of changes, but we still encounter the bouncing which loses us a lot of performance. All of the performance is when you get the car low so we’re getting lower and lower but it’s bouncing more than the other cars and putting pressure on our bodies. But we’re still there! We’re just very slow on the straights, which might be a struggle tomorrow in the race. We’re going to give it everything and maybe we’ll have, I hope, better race pace. I don’t really have any concerns with the stewards."
Furthermore he states on the investigation of him and Norris in Q2, "Firstly, I was off-line, and you have to be within a delta time and I was within my delta time. Within that delta time I should be able to drive the speed I want, and being off-line I wasn’t holding anyone up."
He concludes, "I was trying to get a tow because we’re so slow on the straights and the guys behind didn’t want to go by, so then I just went off and did my lap."
It's a P5 and P7 on the grid for @MercedesAMGF1 ahead of a race which is always one to bring about drama and possibility 🙏
— PETRONAS Motorsports (@PET_Motorsports) June 11, 2022
We are Baku to business tomorrow 😜#OutRaceYourself #PETRONASMotorsports #MercedesAMGF1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/5BX7yYKDdr
