After admitting he has “no clue” how the race will unfold following a costly systems issue, Lewis Hamilton will start the Japanese GP from sixth on the grid at Suzuka Circuit.
It marks his lowest starting position of the season so far, although it is still his best result at Suzuka since 2022.
The Ferrari driver struggled to match teammate Charles Leclerc throughout qualifying, with the team locked in a tight fight behind Mercedes and McLaren.
Hamilton admits uncertainty
Hamilton traced his Q3 difficulties back to a snap of oversteer that triggered an issue with the car’s energy deployment system.
“Q1 was okay, and it got better and better, but we’re just miles away from the guys ahead. I was extracting the best I could,” Hamilton told media, including Motorsport Week
“The deployment is definitely a big part of it.
“My first lap [in Q3], I was up, but I lost two-and-a-half tenths on the back-straight through deployment after a snap of oversteer, and it changed the whole algorithm.
“It should be that you catch it and keep going.
The time lost on the straight ultimately prevented him from challenging higher up the order.
“I really have no clue what the race will be like, I wasn’t around anybody in race simulations, but it is not normally a track where there is a lot of overtaking, so I expect it to be less than in China.
He also highlighted the growing strength of the competition, particularly as rivals continue to extract more from their packages.
“As [McLaren] start extracting more of the power of that Mercedes engine, we have a real job on our hands, but I think the engine is only a part of it, and this weekend at least, the chassis has not been on par with the Mercedes.”
Given Suzuka’s limited overtaking opportunities and Ferrari’s apparent deficit, Hamilton may need something out of the ordinary to move forward on race day.
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