Lewis Hamilton resigned after qualifying in Madrid: “Our competitors are simply faster”

Having come close to securing pole position in Madrid, Lewis Hamilton was ultimately forced to concede to a top trio comprised of Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli, and Max Verstappen. A predictable outcome, according to the Ferrari driver.

While Charles Leclerc suggested that the situation couldn’t be maximized despite qualifying fourth and fifth on Saturday in Madrid, Lewis Hamilton , who had put in a very strong lap on his penultimate attempt, echoed this sentiment. Ahead of the Monegasque driver, the Briton didn’t seem capable of challenging the drivers of the rival teams in the current standings.

“A decent session for me. Everything went quite smoothly, without any real problems. I felt pretty good in Q3, then I lost grip for the final run,” explained the seven-time world champion. “ The team’s execution was good. I think they did a really good job today. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have the pace at the right time.”

Now very pragmatic about his situation, and on a track not conducive to overtaking, Lewis Hamilton is mainly hoping that opportunities will arise as the Spanish Grand Prix progresses, without harboring any illusions about a possible fantastic comeback. “A realistic goal for tomorrow? I’m just off the podium. I hope that if we execute our strategy well and have good race pace, and even if it’s difficult to overtake, we might have a chance of getting on the podium tomorrow if we work hard.”

Finally, while Charles Leclerc pointed to tire degradation as the potential key point of this upcoming race in the Spanish capital, Lewis Hamilton was much more evasive, and visibly somewhat uninterested in this detail after disappointing qualifying on his side of the garage.

“Sometimes we go to hot spots and the degradation is okay, and sometimes it isn’t. In Austria, for example, it was hot and our degradation was terrible. Then we go somewhere else and it’s different, so I have no idea what to expect tomorrow. I’m just going to have fun, that’s all I can say. I’m going to enjoy myself without putting too much pressure on myself. The fact is that our competitors, especially one of them who’s ahead of us, are simply faster. So we’re going to do our best to hold them off.”