Chipper Hamilton 'grateful' to make Q3
Lewis Hamilton Reflects on Qualifying Breakthrough at Dutch Grand Prix
ZANDVOORT, Netherlands — Lewis Hamilton expressed gratitude for advancing to Q3 at the Dutch Grand Prix 2023, calling it the most comfortable he's felt with his Ferrari Formula 1 car this season. The seven-time world champion, who has faced significant challenges during his first year with the iconic Italian F1 team, delivered an improved performance by securing seventh on the grid—just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton has not shied away from addressing his struggles in the 2023 Formula 1 season. Before the August summer break, he described his performances as "useless" and even hinted that Ferrari may need to consider lineup changes for upcoming races. However, following Saturday’s qualifying session at Zandvoort Circuit, Hamilton’s mood was notably more upbeat, even as Ferrari remains far from competing for podium finishes.
“Definitely encouraging to at least, on my side of the garage, have a better result, as the boys in the garage deserve it, and the team deserves it,” Hamilton stated in his post-qualifying interview. “Happy I could be there or thereabouts, but we're not where we want to be. To be seven-tenths off, six-tenths off, in qualifying on a track like this—that’s a huge amount. So we’ve got to understand what that is because Charles [was on pole] at the last race, but naturally, we still have that deficit we’ve had all year long.”
A Bounce Back After Challenging Weekends
Hamilton's recent qualifying woes have been glaring, failing to make the top-ten shootout in Q3 at the last two Formula 1 races. He lined up 16th at the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps and 12th at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The progress seen at Zandvoort comes as Hamilton attempts to fine-tune his approach to race weekends.
“I tried to have a slightly different approach to the weekend,” Hamilton explained when asked about the adjustments. “I'm not going to go into details of what that is, but some tweaks before I even got here, and then through the weekend, have made it a lot smoother. Yesterday, the car was a bit unpredictable, and I think we made some changes—maybe the wind makes it a little bit difficult as well—but I think we were looking for progress.”
The British champion emphasized how he’s focused on building confidence with incremental improvements in the handling and predictability of the Ferrari package.
“I’ve not been in Q3 for some time, so I am grateful for that,” Hamilton noted. “It’s not been up and down on changes—it’s been quite stable. We just made small tweaks, really small tweaks, and have been trying to gain more and more confidence in the car. I think that’s what’s happened over the last couple of days.”
Ferrari’s F1 Season: Eyes on Monza
While Ferrari remains far from being a frontrunner in the Formula 1 championship, the team is striving to find small gains as it looks ahead to its home race at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, just one week away. For Hamilton, Monza represents an opportunity to continue the upward trajectory and deliver a performance that aligns with Ferrari’s heritage and expectations.
“It’s definitely important to have a solid weekend in general; the last couple [of weekends] have been nightmare-ish,” Hamilton admitted. “Get to bed early tonight and come back strong tomorrow. Hopefully, [I’ll] have a solid day.”
As Ferrari fans anticipate their team’s performance at Monza, Hamilton’s comments highlight both the ongoing challenges and the quiet optimism within the team as it works to extract every ounce of potential from its package.
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