Lewis Hamilton has hinted a Ferrari game plan with teammate Charles Leclerc could be utilised to thwart Max Verstappen in the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.
The Brit looked to be fully in contention for pole position at the Marina Bay Circuit, having performed manfully during Qs 1 and 2.
But Hamilton’s challenge faded as an untidy Q3 saw him land himself third on the grid behnd polesitter Verstappen and Leclerc, who locked out the front row.
Hamilton will therefore have to rely on another lightning start to match his one in the Sprint, having jumped from sixth to third into the first corner.
After qualifying, Hamilton revealed Ferrari adjusted his SF-26 after the Sprint, and conveyed regret at not being able to fully hook-up the package beneath him.
“We made some changes going into qualifying. The car was feeling so much better, and I really felt like she had more in her,” he explained. “We were pushing her more and more through the laps, and through the sessions.
“[In] Q1 and Q2, we were awesome. We got to Q3, and I snapped into Turn 1, 3 and was two tenths down. The rest of the lap was good.
“And the last lap, I just struggled with snapping – there’s a real fine line with our car, where it’s [either] over the edge or under the limit.
“Finding that sweet spot is very difficult. I probably had it in the first two [sessions], but you have to look to the progress of the track, the grip coming up, and you have to kind of react to that.
“With hindsight, maybe I shouldn’t have, so it wasn’t great enough with myself.”
Lewis Hamilton hopes to ‘work as a team’ with Charles Leclerc
Overtaking is notoriously difficult in Singapore, but Hamilton has a more successive track record on the circuit than Verstappen, who has never won there, nor had he taken pole position there prior to today.
Hamilton gave full credit to the Red Bull team for their improvements to the RB22, but made the intimation that he will be looking to overcome the Dutchman’s challenge alongside his teammate.
“They’ve [Red Bull] done a great job with their engine, but I think also with their car; it’s obviously a great team,” Hamilton said. “And I think they brought an upgrade in Baku, which has really put them at the front.
“And I think it’s really still a good result for us to have two Ferraris up there. We could definitely, hopefully, work as a team tomorrow to try and hold on to Max and put them under pressure.
“I think that’s the only way it’s going to be. I’m sure it’s going to be fast, but hopefully, together as a team, we can potentially… Who knows?
“We’ll see if we can get ahead of them.”
READ MORE – Max Verstappen edges Ferraris to scintillating Singapore F1 pole position
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