Lewis Hamilton admits he had no answer to Max Verstappen’s pace in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but feels he’s in “a good position” for Sunday’s title decider.
Hamilton carried over his performance throughout the practice sessions at the Yas Marina Circuit to top Q1, but found himself on the backfoot after a blistering lap from Verstappen put him on provisional pole.
The Mercedes driver was more than half a second adrift of Verstappen’s lap time, aided by a tow from Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez on the back straight towards Turn 9.
Although Hamilton gained time on his previous run on his final attempt, he couldn’t get within reach of Verstappen’s pole lap – handing top spot to his title rival.
Hamilton said while his final run had been error-free, he believed the result was down to Red Bull having a pace advantage Mercedes simply could not match.
“Max did a great lap today,” said Hamilton. “We just could not compete with that time at the end there.
“It was looking really strong through practice. We just couldn’t answer to that lap. That was a fantastic lap from him.
“But we’re in a good position, I’d like to think, with our tyres for tomorrow. And I hope that we can have a good race.”
Hamilton revealed his tyre preparation for his final effort wasn’t as good as it should have been, suggesting it could be the reason for the gap to Verstappen.
“On the first lap I dropped a little bit of time in Turn 5,” Hamilton said. “But the last lap was nice and clean. I just couldn’t go any quicker.
“I don’t know if it’s tyre prep, or whatever it may be in terms of the out lap, but nonetheless, I couldn’t beat that time that he did today. He fully deserved the pole.”
Hamilton and Verstappen will be on different strategies for the championship showdown, after Red Bull switched to the soft tyre in Q2 following Verstappen’s lock-up at Turn 1 that caused a flat spot on his left-front tyre.
Despite starting behind Verstappen, who leads in the title race on count back with more wins, Hamilton said he was happy to have the Red Bull driver within range from the front row.
“I’m still on the front row,” Hamilton said. “We’ve got the difference, obviously between the tyres, but I’m grateful I can see where he is! And then we can try and navigate from there.”
Comments.
Loading comments…