Lewis Hamilton didn’t acquire any locations from his qualifying place on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit [Getty Images]
Lewis Hamilton described his Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as “horrible” and stated he had no rationalization for his lack of tempo within the Ferrari.
The seven-time champion completed seventh and was 31 seconds behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, who scored Ferrari’s first grand prix podium of the season with third place.
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“Nothing constructive to take from at the moment,” Hamilton stated, “aside from Charles on the rostrum, which is nice for the group.
“It was horrible, not gratifying in any respect. I used to be simply sliding round. It is fairly unhealthy.”
He’s seventh within the drivers’ championship together with his greatest end in a full grand prix this season his fifth place in Bahrain every week in the past.
Hamilton stated that he was “struggling to really feel the automotive beneath me” however that there was “no explicit factor, nothing to say: ‘Hey, that is the difficulty.'”
And requested why he had been so good within the dash race in China final month, the place he gained from pole place, and had struggled elsewhere, he stated: “I haven’t got a solution.”
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Briton Hamilton, 40, stated he anticipated to wrestle on the subsequent race in Miami, too, including: “I do not understand how for much longer I will wrestle for nevertheless it’s undoubtedly painful. Simply going to try to enhance from week to week.”
“In the intervening time there is no such thing as a repair so that is how it may be for the remaining or the 12 months. It should be painful.
“In qualifying it is me extracting efficiency and within the race I attempted the whole lot and the automotive simply did not need to go any faster.”
Leclerc, against this, drove an excellent race with an extended first stint on the medium tyres to catch and go Mercedes’ George Russell for the ultimate podium place.
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He stated: “I really feel like we have maximised completely the whole lot we may have this weekend. There wasn’t something extra within the automotive.
“We have to give attention to qualifying as a result of it has been a really very long time I have not been as proud of the automotive stability.
“I really feel very comfy with the automotive in a means that I do know I can extract the utmost out of the automotive as a rule, however sadly, the automotive potential is simply not ok to battle for higher in qualifying.”
Ferrari simply missed out on profitable the constructors’ championship final 12 months and began this season hoping to compete for the title.
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However McLaren and Crimson Bull have progressed greater than the Italian group over the winter.
Leclerc stated: “We’re shut on the race tempo. Free air dictates just a little bit who’s going to win the race. That is all the time been the case. Perhaps this 12 months just a little bit greater than different years. And clearly when that’s the case, qualifying is extra essential.
“However sadly, for 2 years, we’re simply struggling in qualifying to place the whole lot collectively.
“The issue is it isn’t all the time the identical problem. This time it was 4 tenths within the first three corners. For the remainder of the lap, we have been quick. And now at the moment within the race, really, the primary sector was in all probability one of the best sector we had.
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“So we have to have a look at that. Clearly, there are solutions in what we’re doing, and we’re doing one thing unsuitable, clearly. We have to search out it.
“We can’t lose too many races earlier than discovering it as a result of we’re already 50 factors down within the drivers’ championship.
“We’re not taking a look at it an excessive amount of, however 50 factors is a giant quantity. I do not need to be shedding extra factors than that within the subsequent few races.”
It was Charles Leclerc’s first time reaching the rostrum this season [Getty Images]
