Ferrari briefly dreamed of pole position during Spanish Grand Prix qualifying in Madrid, only for the opportunity to disappear on the decisive Q3 runs. Lewis Hamilton had been fastest after the opening attempts ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, but the seven-time world champion eventually slipped to fourth, with Charles Leclerc fifth.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur explained after qualifying that an early mistake by Lewis Hamilton at Turns 1 and 2 on his second Q3 attempt immediately cost him around a tenth of a second. From that point, the British driver was forced to chase the lost time for the remainder of the lap.
Fred Vasseur explains how Ferrari’s Madrid pole chance disappeared
The result represented another frustrating conclusion for the Maranello team after the promise shown during Ferrari’s Spanish Grand Prix qualifying session. Lewis Hamilton had moved to the top of the timesheets on the first Q3 run, raising hopes that Ferrari could challenge for pole at the Madring.
The final attempts changed the order completely. Lando Norris went fastest, Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured second place and Max Verstappen took third, pushing Lewis Hamilton down to fourth. Charles Leclerc followed in fifth, only six thousandths of a second behind his team-mate, despite the advantage of the ADUO-2-equipped engine.
The narrow margins reflected just how closely matched the leading group had become. Ferrari had arrived in Madrid expecting the SF-26 to be better suited to the Madring than it had been to Monza, and the opening Q3 runs appeared to confirm that the car had enough performance to compete near the front.
Lewis Hamilton lost around a tenth at Turns 1 and 2
Speaking to Sky after qualifying, Fred Vasseur acknowledged that seeing Lewis Hamilton at the top after the first Q3 attempt naturally made Ferrari think about pole position. However, he identified the mistake at the beginning of the final lap as the moment that compromised the seven-time world champion’s challenge.
“Obviously, when you’re first after the first lap, you start thinking about pole position,” Fred Vasseur explained. “But Lewis Hamilton made a mistake straight away at Turn 1 and Turn 2 and that cost him a tenth. When you start the lap like that, it’s difficult.”
Losing approximately one tenth within the opening seconds of the lap meant Lewis Hamilton immediately had time to recover. With six cars separated by only around two tenths at the front, even such a small error was enough to have a major effect on the final grid order.
Fred Vasseur praises Charles Leclerc’s improvement
Fred Vasseur was also positive about Charles Leclerc, who recovered strongly during the session and finished just 0.006 seconds behind the other Ferrari.
“Charles Leclerc? He improved enormously. There were six cars within two tenths; he drove some excellent laps,” the Ferrari team principal added.
The final classification nevertheless left Ferrari with another sense of what might have been. Lewis Hamilton had shown that pole position was within sight on the opening Q3 run, but the mistake at the first two corners of his final attempt, combined with improvements from Lando Norris, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen, ultimately left the Scuderia occupying only fourth and fifth on the Madrid grid.
Leave a Reply