- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,190,180
- Reaction score
- 59
Lewis Hamilton ended Saturday at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the front row – just 0.064 seconds behind George Russell‘s pole lap – but the more interesting part of his post-qualifying debrief wasn’t about himself. It was about the Ferrari in the barriers.
Charles Leclerc crashed out of Q3 at the exit of Turn 4, triggering a red flag with over eight minutes still on the clock. The incident left him tenth on the grid without a Q3 time to his name.
Hamilton, having watched the same corner data all weekend, attempted to explain what happened to his team-mate.
“We basically had this exact same setup now in Quali, and, you know, Charles’s been quick all weekend,” said the seven-time world champion. “I think on the data, I think I was braking very late into turn four, which had been visible. And I think Charles probably tried to carry a lot of speed into that corner, and unfortunately, it didn’t work out for him.”
Leclerc had looked genuinely threatening in Q2, finishing second – less than half a tenth behind Russell – and briefly suggesting Ferrari might be in pole contention.
The Monegasque driver, who was fastest in Q2, appeared to be at fault for the crash, having turned in earlier than the lap before and gotten wide on the corner exit.
One misjudgment in a session defined by extreme heat and single-lap tyre limits, and his qualifying was over before it really started.
It would be easy to write Leclerc off from tenth. Barcelona is famously hard to overtake at, with nine consecutive grands prix at Catalunya having been won from the front row. Hamilton doesn’t seem inclined to do that, though.
“But, you know, he’s still going to be really quick in the race,” he said of Leclerc. That belief isn’t misplaced.
Hamilton will start Sunday’s 66-lap race from second, marking his best qualifying result in Ferrari colours and he’s already backed that up with second-place finishes in both Canada and Monaco.
Ferrari’s pace is clearly there; the question is whether Leclerc can find a way through traffic before the window closes and Mercedes, presumably, disappears up the road.
The pole is an important result for Russell too, who needed a strong response after a difficult Monaco weekend left him adrift in the championship standings.
Hamilton alongside him on the front row means Sunday shapes up as a genuine three-way fight between both Mercedes and a Ferrari. Leclerc may be a bit too far back to race for a podium finish. But Hamilton, at least, isn’t counting his team-mate out.
Continue reading...
Charles Leclerc crashed out of Q3 at the exit of Turn 4, triggering a red flag with over eight minutes still on the clock. The incident left him tenth on the grid without a Q3 time to his name.
Hamilton, having watched the same corner data all weekend, attempted to explain what happened to his team-mate.
“We basically had this exact same setup now in Quali, and, you know, Charles’s been quick all weekend,” said the seven-time world champion. “I think on the data, I think I was braking very late into turn four, which had been visible. And I think Charles probably tried to carry a lot of speed into that corner, and unfortunately, it didn’t work out for him.”
Leclerc had looked genuinely threatening in Q2, finishing second – less than half a tenth behind Russell – and briefly suggesting Ferrari might be in pole contention.
The Monegasque driver, who was fastest in Q2, appeared to be at fault for the crash, having turned in earlier than the lap before and gotten wide on the corner exit.
One misjudgment in a session defined by extreme heat and single-lap tyre limits, and his qualifying was over before it really started.
Hamilton Still Backs His Teammate for the Race
It would be easy to write Leclerc off from tenth. Barcelona is famously hard to overtake at, with nine consecutive grands prix at Catalunya having been won from the front row. Hamilton doesn’t seem inclined to do that, though.
“But, you know, he’s still going to be really quick in the race,” he said of Leclerc. That belief isn’t misplaced.
Hamilton will start Sunday’s 66-lap race from second, marking his best qualifying result in Ferrari colours and he’s already backed that up with second-place finishes in both Canada and Monaco.
Ferrari’s pace is clearly there; the question is whether Leclerc can find a way through traffic before the window closes and Mercedes, presumably, disappears up the road.
The pole is an important result for Russell too, who needed a strong response after a difficult Monaco weekend left him adrift in the championship standings.
Hamilton alongside him on the front row means Sunday shapes up as a genuine three-way fight between both Mercedes and a Ferrari. Leclerc may be a bit too far back to race for a podium finish. But Hamilton, at least, isn’t counting his team-mate out.
Continue reading...
