Lewis Hamilton chose to sacrifice some qualifying pace in a bid to improve his race pace after a mistake in qualifying for the Malaysian GP meant he wasted a set of soft tyres.
The Brit will now start the Chinese GP with two sets of new soft tyres, unlike Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button. He hopes this compromise will give him more options on Sunday.
“I sacrificed a bit of my own pace to enable me to have a fresh set of Options for the race,” said Hamilton. “We took the decision to complete just a single run in Q3.
“Of course, that was a compromise, but it means I’ll have a fresh set of tyres for one of the stints tomorrow. And last week’s race in Malaysia showed us how important it is to have fresh tyres for the race.”
![Aston Martin managed its first race finish of 2026 with Fernando Alonso [behind] completing the distance](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Aston-Martin-Honda-Japanese-GP-120x86.webp)
The race is expected to be a two-stop affair, with Hamilton likely to run Soft-Hard-Soft, giving him better performance on lower fuel during the closing stages of the race.
“It’s always good to have a fresh set of tyres in the bag, and I wanted to make sure I had options to cover everything. To be able to put on a new tyre at the end of tomorrow’s race will be a great positive and will help the longevity of the tyres.”
![Aston Martin managed its first race finish of 2026 with Fernando Alonso [behind] completing the distance](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Aston-Martin-Honda-Japanese-GP-350x250.webp)
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