After struggling to make it out of Q1 in testing for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton has shared an insight into the approach he may employ in the race as he strives to recover.
Lewis Hamilton has hinted that he may begin Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from the pit lane following a poor qualifying session that saw him drop to P16.
The Briton struggled to make it out of Q1 for the first time since 2017, and he feels it was due to a problem with the car’s setup.
“It’s not where we want to be,” Hamilton told media.
“Unfortunately [we] probably went the wrong way with the set-up.”
He added: “I just didn’t feel the car underneath me in qualifying, so I just struggled with the balance. The car was very nervous, and so we were just nowhere.”
Hamilton: I just don’t understand it
The car looked different in qualification compared to the previous Free Practice sessions, which shocked Hamilton.
“The car just wasn’t underneath me today in this session. It was in practice, it was okay, but not [today],” the seven-time World Champion explained.
“I just don’t understand it. It was just difficult to drive all of a sudden, so way more difficult than ever before.”
The problems were so severe that Hamilton claims his set-up made the W13 “undriveable” during qualifying.
“it was undriveable with the set-up that I chose,” he said.
“I think it was my decision. I made some set-up changes, I don’t know if that was everything to do with it, but it was very unstable.
“I don’t know how it’s going to be tomorrow. It’s a long, long way back.”
Hamilton might be able to start from the pit lane
Hamilton says that he may begin from the pit lane when it comes to his strategy for the race.
“I don’t know whether starting from where I am is going to be worth it,” the Mercedes driver stated, before going on to explain that he may look at changing the set-up as part of this.
“It’s not going to be one of my hardest races ever. It’s just going to be a so-so race, it’s probably not going to be that great.
“Maybe I’ll start from the pit lane and change the car again, [to] make sure it doesn’t handle the way it just did.”
However, Hamilton does not anticipate to make significant progress in the race.
“I’ve got the same car as I had in qualifying, so I don’t anticipate moving that far forwards, but I’ll give it everything,” he added.
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