Lewis Hamilton has contended that “there’s not a lot backwards for me to go” at the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he rued struggles with the Ferrari in practice.
Hamilton languished down in 13th place in FP2, the stand-alone practice hour ran at night in conditions similar to what will be representative in qualifying and the race.
The Briton spurned 1.1 seconds to Lando Norris in the pacesetting McLaren, while he also resided six tenths behind team-mate Charles Leclerc in the sister Ferrari SF-25.
Hamilton, who won the inaugural race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in 2021, admitted that he is expecting a challenge to even advance into the Q3 shootout in qualifying.
“I’m just trying to see if I’m getting the top 10 at the moment,” a downbeat Hamilton said. “Not the greatest, we were struggling to get the tyres working.
“Normally, Saturday goes backwards, but there’s not a lot backwards for me to go from where I am. So, hopefully overnight, we’ll make some improvements to the car.
“There were a few bits through the session that felt good, and [when I] get to the Soft tyre, it’s not there.
“So, we’ll make some changes overnight and hope tomorrow we can come back a bit stronger.”
Hamilton set to replicate Leclerc
Hamilton acknowledged there is a chance that he will opt to replicate Leclerc’s set-up overnight, the two Ferrari drivers having explored alternative directions with the car.
When that was proposed to him, Hamilton responded: “Possibly.
“We’ll work together tonight to see, because through both sessions we were trying different things across both cars to then converge; wing settings and all sorts.
“So, I’m hoping we’ll have a better understanding after we analyse tonight, and hoping for a better day.”
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