Lewis Hamilton has ruled out his and the teams chances of fighting for pole position on Saturday, after both he and teammate Jenson Button finished well-off the leading pace.
Both he and Button were over a second off Mark Webber’s quickest lap during second practice for the German GP, which the 26-year-old believes is too much to make by tomorrow.
“We can’t challenge for pole tomorrow, at least that’s what it seems from today,” said the McLaren driver.
“In pure pace in qualifying we don’t have the pace to run with them [Red Bull and Ferrari], over a single lap they definitely have about a second on us.
“We don’t know what fuel load everyone is on, so we might be pleasantly surprised tomorrow to find we’re heavier than others – although historically that’s not the case.”
The 2008-champion isn’t ruling out a win though, as he believes the MP4-26 will be able to keep up during the race, which has generally been the case all season.
“It’s the race where we’re able to do the most damage and close the gap. We might have the chance to challenge at least one of the Ferraris and Red Bulls – obviously they are still massively quick, but anything can happen.”
