NOT QUICK ENOUGH
L
ewis Hamilton raised his hand and took
the blame for qualifying outside the top
three for the first time in 12 races, as
Ferrari claimed the front row for the Russian
Grand Prix and the Briton’s Mercedes teammate
Valtteri Bottas ended the session third fastest.
Hamilton, who would start the race at Sochi
Autodrom from fourth place on the grid, told
reporters “I just wasn’t quick enough , so I have
to go back to the drawing board and try to figure
out why.”
“It was all in the last sector, I was losing half
a second there. I’ve been struggling there all
weekend with the balance and it’s been tough to
utilise the tyres.”
Mercedes have led every racing lap since
the Russian Grand Prix was added to the
Formula 1 calendar in 2014, with Hamilton
winning two of the three races to date at the
Russian venue.
In the race he faces a resurgent Ferrari
team, “[They] are quickest, obviously in quali
and generally during race trim, so it will be
interesting to see where we stand in the race.”
“Of course my goal is to try to get forwards.
My long run was pretty poor as well, so I’m
hoping is better.
“Sochi isn’t the easiest track to follow on,
but there are long straights which should offer
the opportunity to move forward. I’m on the dirty
side of the grid so I haven’t done myself any
favours off the start.
“But that was the best job I could do. We’ve
got a real race to look forward to. There’s no
point being upset; we’ll channel our positive
energy and hopefully race day will be better,”
added Hamilton.