Lewis Hamilton struggled to search out tempo all weekend in Azerbaijan, qualifying sixth and ending in the identical place.
After a DNF in Madrid from a brake failure, Hamilton would have been hoping for a extra optimistic weekend in Baku. He each certified and completed in P6, an apparent enchancment from his earlier consequence, but it surely was not smooth-sailing for the Ferrari driver.
Regardless of Charles Leclerc managing to make the entrance row of the grid, each the Monegasque and Hamilton’s race tempo left so much to be desired.
Chatting with media after the race, Hamilton was requested whether or not he would agree the idea that Ferrari is now the fourth-fastest crew, having been the second-fastest for a lot of the marketing campaign thus far.
“What’s the significance of that?” the Briton responded. “Why would I agree with it? I don’t know the place we’re. Third or second, I don’t know.
“We’re clearly not the second quickest for the time being. However we’re forward of the McLarens at the moment, so possibly we’re the third.
Lewis Hamilton ‘can’t fairly grasp’ Ferrari tyre struggles
It wasn’t simply energy on the straights that Hamilton struggled with in Baku- he went on to say that he had had lots of issue with tyres.
“No. For me, all weekend there was switching the tyres on. Simply all weekend, I don’t assume I ever actually obtained the tyres to change on. And I can’t fairly grasp why that’s the case with our automobile.
“We made some modifications to try to get it working. It was a bit higher in FP3. And qualifying was an actual wrestle to change them on.
“I believe many individuals had it. However others appeared to wrestle much less. After which within the race, it was that. Simply the entire race. I believe on the finish of the primary stint, I had the tyres rapidly switched on. And I had OK tempo. However then we obtained into the Medium tyre. They usually wouldn’t work the entire time. After which simply deployment.
“These guys simply appeared to energy, energy, energy all over the place. Which is fairly loopy to see. You’re having to dam into locations that you wouldn’t usually should, like Flip 2, or Flip 4 or 5.”
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