Hamilton: “Poor execution in Q3”

A bad qualifying

Ferrari never really seemed to be in contention for pole position during the crucial stages of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. In fact, in Q2 Lewis Hamilton just managed to avoid elimination by 0.001 seconds, a sign of a more difficult Saturday than expected.
And even in Q3 things did not go perfectly, with the Englishman making his first attempt completely alone – certainly the worst possible strategy on a track like the one in Brianza that rewarded slipstreaming.
In the end, Hamilton finished fifth, just 7 thousandths behind Charles Leclerc and a little over two tenths off the pole by Pierre Gasly.

Hamilton criticizes the execution

“It was definitely a very very difficult qualifying,” Lewis Hamilton honestly admitted to Sky UK, further explaining his analysis: “The car was really good in practice, so I didn’t change anything ahead of qualifying. At the start of Q1 I felt comfortable and it went well. Then we stopped and waited a long time in the pits at the start of Q2 and for some reason we no longer had the right pace. I’m not sure if it was due to pressure or tire temperature. We need to look into it.”

What happened next in Q3 was equally strange: “The execution in Q3 was terrible. I found myself in the middle of nowhere. When you are behind another car you arrive faster in several corners, adjust the braking point and it’s all about finding the rhythm. The second attempt wasn’t terrible, but with different references I couldn’t make the most of it.”

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Hamilton then thanked the work done at the factory for the updates: “I think our car is really fantastic. Ahead of us we only have the Mercedes engines and to be this close we did a good job. They keep gaining several tenths on the straight and that’s just how it is. Hopefully on some of the upcoming circuits that are not so power-dependent. The guys are giving their all.”

Translated from