Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari Driver admits a shock to Azerbaijan GP Qualifily T2 released and tactical tactory questions in Bakou | F1 News

A disappointed Lewis Hamilton admitted that it was a shock to see his start of the foreground at the weekend of the Grand Prix in Azerbaijan giving way to 12th place on the grid while Ferrari’s hopes of a strong qualification in Baku evaporated with the two drivers.

Hamilton had exceeded Friday’s training times before teammate Charles Leclerc, then continued to appear in the first six in the final training on Saturday, then the first stage with direct qualification.

However, he ended up being eliminated in T2 after failing to adjust a fairly fast time on the soft tires for the Top 10 shooting.

Leclerc, who ran the mediums during the second session, progressed in the third quarter with his last lap although then quickly sent himself to 10th place on the grid, crashing into the first stages of the last stage.

Thinking about what had gone wrong for him, Hamilton said Sky Sports F1: “I am obviously so disappointed.

“Yesterday, the car felt good, today, there was a direction that we ended up going, which, on paper, seemed that it was the best place for us, and finally it is …

“Our pace had been good. We had progressed, I really felt on it, I made no mistakes, I had not seen myself on the outlet roads. It was just that we did not have the right tire at the end.

“It’s difficult. Everyone in front of me essentially had the average tire, but I lost an average P2 tire due to the racing plan calendar, and that put me on the back.”

“ We will take it internal ” – How the hopes of Hamilton Q2

The F1 teams faced an enigma all weekend in Baku on the time of using the soft and average tire with the latter unusually proving a match, even superior, to the supposedly faster compound in certain circumstances and on certain cars.

After an early red flag in Q2 – the fourth of a record of six during a chaotic and elongated qualification – had been triggered by an accident by Oliver Bearman, the session resumed with 11 minutes remaining and none of the main drivers having a time on the time on the time sheet.

Leclerc was Ferrari’s first car on the track and ran the medium tires, with Hamilton according to the softs.

But things started to be mistaken at the beginning of their first timed turns when Leclerc surmounted himself and ran widely in the first corner, the following yellow flags forcing Hamilton to slow down. The two pilots carried out non -representative slow tricks, always leaving them without time of turn.

After the cooling laps, the Ferrari drivers again made timed attempts and while Hamilton finished his to go to the eighth faster, Leclerc made another error in turn three.

Leclerc then went to the stands, going to another set of mediums, but Hamilton continued on the track with the same soft tires. The Briton posted his best time in the second quarter with his next attempt, but it was only good enough for 10th place, which quickly became 12th due to the improvements of Fernando Alonso and Leclerc.

And while at that time, there had still been two minutes on the clock and therefore theoretically enough time to finish another timed round, Hamilton opposed the end of his next tour to confirm his first surprise elimination.

When he was asked if he had an average available tire and could therefore have finished a “hot” live stop as Leclerc had done, Hamilton said: “Yes, but the choice was not taken to take it.

“I wanted it, but they said that the warm -up was too long or something like that, so we are running out of time and lacking in fuel.

“Not great, but we will take it internal.”

Hamilton, however, was still taking the encouragement of his form to the quarter, adding: “As I said, there were a lot of positive points this weekend.

“I really felt on it. I honestly thought that I was going to shoot pole today, so it’s a bit of a shock.

“I’m going to take it on the chin and continue to try.”

Vasseur: the choice of tires was confusing for everyone

When Hamilton’s comments were made to him after the qualifications, the director of the team, Frederic Vasseur, said: “We abandoned the first round and you do not eat the car to make 10 rounds more.

“The tires, honestly, is a bit of confusion but I think it’s a bit of confusion for everyone.

“At the end of the day, the post [from Max Verstappen in Q3] was with softs. Carlos [Sainz, who qualified second] was also brilliant with the rubbed environment, but I think everyone is in the same situation.

“I think it’s more to put the tires in the right window than the choice of tire.”

Sky Sports F1 GP schedule in Azerbaijan

Sunday September 21
7:55 am: F2 functionality breed
10:30 am: Grand Prix Sunday: Azerbai GP Build-Up *
12 noon: The Azerbaijan Grand Prix *
2 p.m.: Damy flag: Azerbaijan GP reaction
3 p.m.: Ted notebook

* Live on the main event of Sky Sports

Formula 1 is in Bakou for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with lights extinct on Sunday at 12 noon and an accumulation from 10:30 am, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Stream Sky Sports with now – no contract, cancel at any time