“I do know I’ve nonetheless obtained it” regardless of qualifying struggles

Lewis Hamilton insists that he has “nonetheless obtained it”, regardless of the present struggles he’s having in extracting tempo from his Mercedes F1 automotive.

The seven-time world champion continues to face frustrations in getting essentially the most out of himself in qualifying, as he once more completed adrift of his team-mate George Russell in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix.

Whereas Russell put his automotive on the entrance row, Hamilton ended up sixth on the grid, 0.436 seconds again.

This was an even bigger hole than the 0.399 deficit in dash qualifying that had left him confessing that “I am undoubtedly not quick anymore.”

However whereas not hiding from the truth that he has had a tough season and issues had been undoubtedly not gelling as he hoped, Hamilton stated on Saturday that deep down he felt he nonetheless had all of the potential he wanted to ship in F1.

“Yeah, I do know I’ve nonetheless obtained it,” he stated. “Simply the automotive will not go any quicker, I undoubtedly know I’ve obtained it nonetheless. It is not a query in my thoughts. [But I’m] trying ahead to the tip.”

Whereas Hamilton once more stated that his Mercedes automotive was feeling “first rate” in qualifying, he nonetheless believed there was no hiding from the truth that the deficit to Russell was nonetheless fairly large.

“I am sluggish,” he stated. “I am half a second off my team-mate in the identical automotive.”

Requested if the remarks about his tempo had been a broader factor past simply this weekend, he stated: “No, it has been all yr.”

Hamilton provided no solutions as to what was not working for him proper now, as he additionally steered that there can be no instant resolution that may unlock one thing earlier than the tip of the season.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photographs

“It is not doable to alter it. Proper now,” he admitted.

Hamilton completed sixth within the earlier dash race, after displaying some sturdy velocity – and getting concerned in a battle with future Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.

And after barely regretting not having pushed extra robustly, he vowed to play issues a bit harder if there have been repeat circumstances on Sunday.

“Yeah, it was alright,” he stated. “It was honest. Good and shut. I imply, I did not defend: I ought to have defended, however I did not.

“He was a bit faster than me and he was in all probability going to return by anyway. So if I am in the identical place once more tomorrow, I am going to put extra of a combat out for certain.”

Images from Qatar GP Dash Race & Qualifying