Lewis Hamilton admits Mercedes has some work to do ahead of tomorrow’s Russian Grand Prix after being out-qualified by the Ferrari duo.
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen locked out the front row – Ferrari’s first since 2008 – with Hamilton only managing fourth behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
With Ferrari having also shown strong race pace during Friday’s practice sessions, Hamilton believes the team may have to revert to the drawing board to try and prevent the Italian outfit from running away with the race.
“I just wasn’t quick enough today,” he conceded after qualifying. “Have to go back to the drawing board and try and figure out why.
“Tomorrow is still all to play for. I’m still up there in the mix. It was all the last sector, I was losing half a second [there].
“So there’s some work to do. That’s where all the mistakes happen. It was a real struggle, getting tyre temperature and really maximising [and] utilising the tyres.
“It was an issue yesterday and we made some changes, and it worked but then too much maybe – because that last sector was a struggle.”
The three-time world champion adds that due to Ferrari’s surge in performance, he has a real race on his hands in the grand prix and admitted the prospects of overturning his poor qualifying result look bleak.
“Ferrari are quickest here today, and generally during race trim, so it’ll be interesting to see where we stand tomorrow,” he said.
“This means we have a real race. It’s just a shame today I definitely wasn’t at my optimum. Normally I’m a lot quicker than I am today, so I need to and work out why and see what I can do.
“Of course, my goal is to try and get forwards, and my long run yesterday was pretty poor as well, so I’m hoping to rise back.
“It’s only a one-stop, so it’s a very simple strategy, so I’m not particularly confident on that but I’m going to work as hard as I can to do it on track.”
