Lewis Hamilton admitted Ferrari was not particularly close to pole position in Madrid despite setting the fastest time on the opening Q3 runs. The seven-time world champion briefly raised hopes of a breakthrough result for the Scuderia, but only made a small improvement on his final attempt and eventually slipped to fourth behind Lando Norris, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen.
The dramatic change in the order left Lewis Hamilton questioning how Ferrari’s rivals had managed to find so much performance between their two Q3 runs. The British driver suggested they may have increased their engine performance, while acknowledging that Ferrari appeared to be missing something it could not simply recover on the final lap.
Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari was not truly close to Madrid pole
For a few minutes, the prospect of pole position looked realistic. Lewis Hamilton produced the quickest time on his first Q3 attempt, putting Ferrari at the top of the standings and ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli. It was another indication of the potential the SF-26 had shown around the Madring.
The situation changed quickly on the decisive runs. Lewis Hamilton improved only marginally and also made several small mistakes, while Lando Norris, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen all found considerably more lap time. Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur later highlighted Lewis Hamilton’s mistake through Turns 1 and 2 as one of the factors that compromised his final attempt.
Speaking to Sky Sport F1 after qualifying, Lewis Hamilton played down the idea that Ferrari had been genuinely close to taking pole.
“Was I close to pole? I wasn’t particularly close, unfortunately,” Lewis Hamilton said. “Yes, it’s true that at the end of the first run in Q3 I was first and I said to myself, ‘Oh my God.’ But then I don’t know what the others did: maybe they turned the engine up, I don’t know how they managed to improve so much. There’s definitely something they have that we don’t, and we can’t do much better.”
Lewis Hamilton questions rivals’ engine gains despite Ferrari ADUO-2
The reference to greater engine performance was particularly significant because Lewis Hamilton is once again running Ferrari’s upgraded ADUO-2 power unit this weekend. His team-mate Charles Leclerc, by contrast, is using a different specification and has already explained how his engine specification cost straight-line performance in Madrid.
Lewis Hamilton’s comments did not establish exactly where the rivals’ improvement came from, but reflected his surprise at the scale of their progress on the second Q3 attempts. After occupying provisional pole, the Ferrari driver ultimately found himself behind three cars when the final times were set.
Fresh tyre advantage does not boost Lewis Hamilton’s optimism
Lewis Hamilton also remained cautious when looking ahead to the Spanish Grand Prix. Asked whether having an additional fresh set of tyres available for the race could become an important advantage, he did not expect it to transform Ferrari’s prospects.
“Having an extra fresh set of tyres for the race? I don’t think it can be a big advantage, because in the end things tend to even themselves out,” Lewis Hamilton concluded.
Ferrari will therefore start with Lewis Hamilton from fourth place, after briefly occupying the position every team wanted in Q3. The early provisional pole offered a moment of optimism, but the final runs left the seven-time world champion questioning the performance Ferrari’s rivals were able to unlock and sounding notably cautious about how much more the Maranello team can find.
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