Q2 exit: how confusion and strategic mistakes cost Lewis Hamilton in Azerbaijan. Lewis Hamilton expressed disappointment after being eliminated in Q2 at the Azerbaijan GP.

F1 | Lewis Hamilton disappointed after strategic errors cost him Q2 elimination

After a promising Friday, Ferrari faced a bitter Saturday in Baku: Charles Leclerc finished 10th after an incident in Q3, while Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2, ending up in 12th place. For the British driver, strategic errors and tire management proved decisive, particularly his limited use of the medium tires in the second session despite having two sets available.

Following the best Friday of the season, Saturday turned into a day to forget for Ferrari. On the narrow streets of Baku, the Scuderia could not advance beyond 10th and 12th in qualifying: Charles Leclerc was unfortunately involved in an incident in Q3, while Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in the second session. This double setback removed the Italian team from contention for the front rows.

The disappointing Saturday was especially bitter considering the expectations leading into the weekend. Even more frustrating for Hamilton was his inability to match the times set during Friday’s FP2 or those in the final practice session that morning. This clear step back was, for Hamilton, the result of a combination of factors, including track conditions and the strategy chosen for the second qualifying session.

From a potential fight for the front rows, aided by a “chaotic” standings due to numerous red flags during a two-hour qualifying session, Hamilton ended up in 12th, a result that no one could find satisfactory. This was particularly disappointing given that Baku was identified by Ferrari as one of the tracks most favorable for the SF-25 in the second half of the season.

“Honestly, I’m obviously very disappointed. Yesterday the car felt good. Today we followed a direction that, on paper, seemed the best for us, and our pace looked solid,” explained the seven-time world champion. After resolving braking issues that had emerged on Friday, Hamilton was again in the top four in FP3, aiming for a strong starting position on the grid, something that has often eluded him this season.

“We were progressing, I felt really on it, I didn’t make mistakes, you didn’t see me end up in the run-off areas. It’s just that in the end we didn’t have the right tire, and then it gets tough. Everyone in front of me was running medium tires, but I lost a set of mediums in FP2, and that, combined with the schedule, put me at a disadvantage.”

Analyzing what went wrong in qualifying, Lewis Hamilton highlighted the strategy. Observing the remaining tire sets, the British driver had used an extra set of medium tires in FP2 for data comparisons and, together with Yuki Tsunoda, was the only top-team driver with just two sets of yellow-banded tires available for qualifying.

This inevitably influenced the strategy for qualifying, especially considering that many teams had identified the C5 medium tire as potentially the best choice for achieving a top result. On paper, despite a slightly lower maximum grip compared to the C6, the medium tire offered greater stability, allowing drivers to push beyond the limits, particularly in strong wind conditions that could further destabilize the car.

The most curious aspect was that Hamilton did not use the medium tire in either Q1 or Q2, making him the only driver following this strategy. For this reason, the Briton emphasized that more could have been done tactically: “Yes, I think Q2 could have been executed better. We need to note this to improve. Everyone in the top 10 had three sets of medium tires, I had only two. It was clear the medium was faster, but I didn’t have it.”

“I wanted to try another lap, but I didn’t have enough fuel for an extra formation lap. Still, there are some positives from this weekend. I’m really disappointed because I wanted to deliver a good result for the team. I thought I could fight for a top-three position or even pole based on how the car felt, but it didn’t work out.”

With two medium sets still available, Hamilton could have returned to the pits for a second attempt on the yellow-banded tires after trying the softs, but he did not. This contrasted with Charles Leclerc, who used two of his three available medium sets in Q2 before qualifying.

After a red flag caused by Oliver Bearman, the Monegasque completed two runs on new medium tires, even passing through the pits, while Hamilton remained on the same soft tires for the final 12 minutes. This choice was partly influenced by the different schedules followed by the two Ferrari drivers.

Hamilton had to abort his first flying lap due to a yellow flag at turn 1 caused by another driver’s off-track excursion, as did Leclerc with a lock-up. However, while Leclerc made another mistake on his second attempt and returned to the pits, Hamilton continued on the same soft set, struggling with rear tire temperature management, ultimately finishing behind even drivers using the same tire compound, such as the two Red Bulls.

With more than four minutes left, Hamilton asked whether there was enough time to pit and change tires, having nearly completed the tire cooldown lap. The team responded negatively: according to the Ferrari pit wall, the medium would have taken too long to reach optimal temperature, so they advised staying out on the already-used soft tires.

Using Charles Leclerc as a reference, the Monegasque set his best time on the first flying lap with mediums in the final attempt. Hamilton, on the other hand, faced a triple problem: he used the tire at its maximum grip while still carrying a full fuel load, had to continue on the same soft set, and could not capitalize on the track’s optimal conditions, leaving him “out of sync” with others.

“Yes, I wanted to [switch to medium], but they told me the warm-up time was too long or something like that, so we ran out of time and fuel. It wasn’t ideal, but we’ll handle it internally,” Hamilton added, noting that there would have actually been enough time to fit the medium. Therefore, the issue wasn’t only the choice of soft or medium tires, but also the schedule associated with them.

“But I felt we made a lot of progress and were really competitive, and I didn’t make mistakes. Then, being at a disadvantage with only two medium tires, we thought we had two for Q3, but first you have to reach Q3. In the end, it just wasn’t the best execution. Definitely disappointed, but there are still many positives to take away.”

“I thought I could get pole today; I hadn’t felt this confident all year. So being 12th is tough, but, as I said, I don’t think it was down to my driving—it was just that the execution could have been better.”