Lewis Hamilton admitted that neither of his Q3 laps was good enough after qualifying third for the Singapore Grand Prix, despite looking capable of fighting for pole position earlier in the session. The Ferrari driver explained that two extremely small setup changes transformed the behaviour of the SF-26, leaving the car nervous at the decisive stage of qualifying.
The seven-time world champion will start the Singapore Grand Prix from P3, behind Max Verstappen and Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc. After producing an excellent time in Q2, Lewis Hamilton appeared to have the pace to challenge for pole, but he was unable to complete a clean lap when qualifying reached its decisive phase.
Lewis Hamilton starts Singapore Grand Prix from P3
Lewis Hamilton was undoubtedly one of the drivers who left Singapore qualifying with some regret. His Q2 performance suggested that he could challenge for the front of the grid, but neither his first nor his second Q3 attempt came together cleanly.
The final sector was particularly costly on his last attempt. A mistake in Sector 3 cost him around a tenth and a half, preventing him from improving when the margins at the front were exceptionally small.
The differences between the Ferrari drivers and their rivals can be examined in more detail through the F1 Qualifying Telemetry & Corner Comparison, which includes speed, braking, throttle and corner-by-corner data.
Lewis Hamilton explains why Ferrari changed between Q2 and Q3
After qualifying, Lewis Hamilton explained how the SF-26 had gone from feeling extremely strong in Q1 and Q2 to becoming much more difficult to control in Q3.
“The car was good. My team, the engineers and mechanics did a fantastic job between the sessions. The car was fantastic in Q1 and Q2, but I thought there was still something more to extract, and the only way to get it out was to increase the front wing. I think I took it to the limit, though, and the car became nervous,” Lewis Hamilton explained.
“None of the laps in Q3 were good, so honestly I’m grateful to be third.”
The British driver believes the Ferrari operates within an extremely narrow setup window, making it difficult to identify the perfect balance between pushing beyond the limit and failing to reach it.
“I think with our car there is an incredibly fine line between going over the limit and not reaching the limit. Finding that balance point is really, really difficult.”
Tiny Ferrari setup changes had a major effect
Lewis Hamilton revealed that Ferrari made only two very small adjustments before Q3: one to the brake balance and a single click of front wing. Despite the limited scale of those changes, the behaviour of the car changed dramatically.
“We made two very small changes in Q3, one to the brake balance and one click on the front wing, but the car was enormously different. That shows that we are fast when we have the right balance.”
“When we don’t get the balance right, those details change everything. You only need a tiny change to the car because it is right on the limit.”
For Lewis Hamilton, understanding exactly where that threshold lies will now be important for Ferrari as it tries to make the SF-26 more predictable across different conditions and setup adjustments.
“We need to look at this so we can understand where the breaking point is, because that change we made was the breaking point that then prevented me from going for pole.”
More coverage of the British driver’s Ferrari season can be found in the Lewis Hamilton section.
Ferrari heads into Singapore race with both cars in the top three
Third place nevertheless represents an important result for both Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari. The Scuderia will start the race with both cars inside the first three positions, with Charles Leclerc alongside Max Verstappen on the front row and Lewis Hamilton immediately behind them.
That starting position gives Ferrari the possibility of trying to use its two cars against Max Verstappen strategically, although executing that opportunity will be far from straightforward against the Red Bull driver.
A strong start will therefore be particularly important for Lewis Hamilton, with Ferrari hoping he can reproduce the type of launch he delivered in the Sprint and immediately put himself in contention at the front of the Singapore Grand Prix.
Leave a Reply