Lewis Hamilton: “12th place is not my fault, I know mistakes were made behind the scenes”. Lewis Hamilton explained his frustration after qualifying only 12th in Baku.

A difficult Saturday

After yet another Friday filled with hope for Ferrari fans, Saturday in Baku turned into a bitter disappointment for the Scuderia. The Maranello-based team will line up for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with its two cars starting only from the fifth and sixth rows of the grid.

Another disappointment also came for Lewis Hamilton, who for the fifth time this season failed to reach Q3. The seven-time world champion will have to start the race from the twelfth position on the grid.

Lewis Hamilton defends himself

“I felt like we had made a lot of progress and that we were really in good shape. And I did not make any mistakes,” Lewis Hamilton explained to the journalists waiting for him in the paddock. He went on to add: “Of course I am definitely disappointed, but there were still many positive aspects. Being twelfth is tough, but I don’t believe it is down to my driving. It was simply that the execution should have been better.” – the British driver pointed out on Saturday.

Lewis Hamilton’s reference was to the use of the Soft tyres during Q2, and to understand the mistake it is necessary to look back at Friday’s running. “The team had me running on the Medium tyres in the first stint of FP2, while Charles should have used them in the second stint. But the team decided to preserve them, since no other driver was using them at that stage.”

This strategic disparity later led Ferrari to choose to preserve the two sets of Medium tyres for Lewis Hamilton in Q2, but the seven-time world champion was unable to reach the top ten on the Soft compound. “The Mediums were much quicker, maybe three tenths of a second or something like that. I know exactly which mistakes were made behind the scenes and in a way that is a positive, because it means we can identify the issues. There are a lot of areas where we can improve internally.”

Despite the setback, Lewis Hamilton’s mood remains relatively positive, to the point where he is still hoping for a strong comeback in the race. “I will go into this Grand Prix with maximum optimism. We are fast on the straights and with Safety Cars anything can happen. I will try to reach the top three.” – the Ferrari driver concluded.