Lewis Hamilton qualified in fifth place for the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix as he revealed set-up changes to his Ferrari car made it trickier to drive.
After securing his first win for the Scuderia, cruising home for the Chinese GP Sprint Race victory, Hamilton qualified on the third row for Sunday’s race.
The British driver had endured a difficult debut for Ferrari in Australia, picking up just a single point with a 10th-place finish.
However, Hamilton would have thought his fortunes were changing after putting his SF-25 on pole for Saturday’s Sprint.
Yet with both Ferrari cars qualifying in fifth and sixth for the Grand Prix, it seems his pace earlier on couldn’t be replicated.
The 40-year-old admitted it was a difficult session whilst speaking in the media pen afterwards.
“We started really optimistic naturally, but then we made just a couple of small changes, tweaks to the car, and it really put the car on a knife edge,” he said (via Autosport).
“I think the wind picked up a little bit as well, so the car was just trickier today. It was harder to put laps together.
“You want a car that’s balanced. At the moment, from one corner to the next, the car has a different balance.
“You just want a car that you can rely on.
“When you attack the corners, you know it’s going to stay with you instead of lock-up and go on or snap into oversteer and, when it’s unpredictable, then you’ve got no hope.”
Hamilton: Sprint Race victory ‘has made us all even hungrier’
Whilst Ferrari was given another reminder of the gap between themselves and McLaren, Hamilton says the victory in the Sprint has delivered optimism within the Maranello squad.
“Getting my first Sprint pole and then win in a Ferrari was such a special feeling,” he said.
“The car felt strong and we managed to bring everything together to cross the line first and bring home some good points for the team.
“The reaction from the crowd was just incredible.
“Qualifying was tougher and we didn’t get the most out of the car over a lap today, but clearly we have the potential and now it’s about working hard to make sure we can consistently unlock that pace across a weekend.
“The taste of winning has made us all even hungrier and although it will be tough tomorrow, we know the work we need to do.”
Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur was left disappointed after qualifying, but his focus soon turned to the Grand Prix as he stated strategy and tyre management will be the key to earning a positive result.
“This morning’s 19 laps demonstrated that tyre management will be absolutely crucial tomorrow, given the characteristics of the new track surface in Shanghai,” Vasseur explained.
“Today’s qualifying was really difficult to read and several teams, including ourselves, experienced a swing in performance.
“We were strong in Q1 before struggling in Q2 and in Q3 we came within three tenths of pole, most of the time lost in the final sector.
“Of course, we would have preferred to have qualified better, because even if you have good pace, we saw in the Sprint that running in dirty air, your tyres suffer a lot more.
“The race will be all about strategy and we must be ready to take advantage of any situations that arise.
“The field looks very close and overnight, we will work on ensuring we are in the best possible shape to bring home another good points haul to add to the 12 from today.”
READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton hits back at ‘yapping’ Ferrari critics after F1 China Sprint win
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