Lewis Hamilton pondered whether he missed out on a possible pole position for Sunday’s Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, which the Mercedes driver reckoned he could have challenged for had he had a spare intermediate tyre available.
Mercedes didn’t have the ultimate pace in Friday’s dry practice running, but a wet qualifying session coupled with Max Verstappen out of the running thanks to a 10-place grid penalty, there was an opportunity to be seized in Saturday’s qualifying session.
That opportunity went to Charles Leclerc, who qualified second to Verstappen, granting the Ferrari driver the number one starting berth on Sunday’s grid alongside Sergio Perez.
Hamilton meanwhile qualified fourth, 0.676s off of Verstappen’s benchmark but less than a tenth slower than Leclerc.
“I was comfortable, always comfortable in these conditions,” Hamilton said after qualifying.
“I do think we could have been further up if we got timing perfect in that last stint but we nearly didn’t get through Q1, not through true pace it was just because they brought me in, and then at the end we only had one set of tyres and the three guys ahead had another set.”
Set to start from third on the grid, Hamilton said “For sure, [I] definitely can’t complain, when I looked at my theoretical time I should have been second, but I think if I had another tyre at the end I could have got pole, but it’s all ifs and buts.”
Sunday’s GP is set to be a dry affair, resetting the pecking order back to its natural state per Friday’s running.
That would suggest that Hamilton, tasked with challenging the likes of Leclerc and Perez ahead of him will have an equally tough task keeping the two McLarens and an undoubtedly hard-charging Verstappen from passing by through the 44-lap contest.
“There’s a slight chance we could maybe fight for a podium but I think it’s going to be tough as we have the McLarens behind, a quick Red Bull ahead, and another quick Red Bull that’s going to come through, and the Ferrari is just there with us in terms of performance,” Hamilton said.
“I think the race pace was strong for the other guys, I’m hoping the changes we have made overnight put the car in a slightly better place and it’ll be how I drive it tomorrow that will really seal the deal, or I’ll go backwards.”
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