Lewis Hamilton has revealed how he recovered from difficult free practice performances to snatch a front row slot on the grid for tomorrow’s Formula 1 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
Hamilton had looked out of sorts during free practice ahead of qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but managed to take second place alongside George Russell, missing out by just 0.064s.
In the process, the Ferrari driver bumped Andrea Kimi Antonelli down to third, rendering a first non front-row start of the season for the Italian title-leader.
Speaking after qualifying, Hamilton explained how he struggled after missing FP1 – having handed his car to Dino Beganovic – but revealed where he completed a mental reset.
“It feels great to be up here with them,” he said. “Honestly, this weekend’s been so difficult.
“Missing FP1 was… normally, it’s OK to miss FP1, but it had a huge offset, so every time… we went to FP2, [and] I was just over a second off, and then we just didn’t feel quite comfortable and up to it, and these tyres only last one lap, right? So you only have two shots at it in each session, and even if you do a cool-down lap and go again, the car balance is completely off, so it’s not a good reference.
“So then I went to FP3, and again, I was easily four tenths, five tenths off. And I was thinking, ‘Jesus, where am I going to get that pace?’
“And I went and left the track between FP3 and qualifying, I went back to my motorhome, came back, and then in Q1, I was first.”
Hamilton continued: “So I knew I had good balance. I was really comfortable in that first session. Q2 was a little bit harder with traffic and everything, and then these guys did a great lap, naturally,” he added.
“Congrats to George, but we’re in a good position to be able to fight tomorrow, so we have a race.”
Hamilton’s result further underlines the shift in performance for the 41-year-old, having taken two second places in the last two rounds.
READ MORE – F1 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix – Qualifying Results
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