Lewis Hamilton calls P8 start ‘not good enough' after disappointing Japanese GP qualifying
Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool
SUZUKA, Japan -- Lewis Hamilton took responsibility for his underwhelming qualifying performance at the Japanese Grand Prix, candidly stating that it was "not good enough." The seven-time world champion qualified eighth at Suzuka, clocking a time 0.311 seconds slower than his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, who will be starting Sunday's race from fourth place.
"Obviously not good enough from my side, P8 is not great," Hamilton told Sky Sports. "But I was happy to get in Q3 obviously, had a really tight battle out there with everyone, just didn't get very good laps in Q3."
During the second qualifying session, Hamilton was impeded by Carlos Sainz on the approach to Turn 1, causing the Ferrari driver to cross the kerb and go off the circuit. As a result, Sainz received a three-place grid penalty and will start 15th.
The first three race weekends with Ferrari have brought mixed results for Hamilton, including a win in the China sprint race followed by a disqualification from the full-length grand prix the next day. His Ferrari was removed from the results after the plank on the underside of the car was found to have an illegal level of wear, caused by running the car too low to the ground.
Despite the plank wear being only 0.5 millimeters beyond the regulatory limit, Hamilton confirmed that his car is running higher in Japan to avoid a repeat incident, even though it sacrifices performance.
"We are running higher than we'd like, but everyone is in the same boat in that respect," Hamilton explained. "Particularly obviously after the last race, we are a bit higher than we wanna be -- that's usually the knock-on effect of a weekend like we had before. Charles did an amazing lap today. We went in different directions with the setup, we had a lot of understeer and couldn't dial it out throughout qualifying."
Hamilton is looking forward to the potential of rain on race day, hoping it will enhance his chances of moving up the grid.
"I'm excited, I generally love the rain. It's going to be tricky but usually when you have a qualifying like I've just had, you hope for the rain," he said.
With Hamilton eager to bounce back and Leclerc starting from a strong position, the conditions at Suzuka could set the stage for an unpredictable and thrilling Japanese Grand Prix.
Up Next
