Lewis Hamilton experienced a disappointing sprint qualification for the São Paulo Grand Prix at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace. The seven-time world champion will start in eleventh place, while he emphasized that Ferrari thought they were much faster and felt no pressure to qualify in the top ten.
During the free practice, the Ferraris only finished 18th and 19th, but the drivers were on the hard tire, while the competition completed their fast laps on the medium tire. In the first part of the sprint qualification, the Ferraris were in P10 and P12, while Hamilton eventually stranded in SQ2 at P11. Additional frustration came in the form of a reprimand, as he did not slow down sufficiently under double yellow flags – caused by teammate Charles Leclerc. “Yes, that certainly didn’t help,” Hamilton said after the session.
Afterwards, Hamilton spoke candidly about the problems Ferrari is experiencing this weekend: “The team thought we were much faster than we actually are. I got everything out of it that was possible, and that’s ultimately what counts. The point is simply that we’re not fast enough.” Hamilton will start the sprint race from the eleventh position and indicates that for him it’s mostly about having fun: “At this point, it’s really mostly about having fun for me.”
