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Lewis Hamilton admitted Ferrari lacked the outright pace to fight for a podium in Baku, despite hoping for one in the event of a chaotic race. Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, after the Azerbaijan GP, the Briton said being stuck in a DRS train ultimately limited his progress through the field.
Having qualified 12th, Hamilton targeted a podium by banking on red flags or safety cars similar to those seen in the incident-filled qualifying session. However, with the race running relatively clean, the seven-time world champion found himself trapped in a DRS train in the closing stages and had to settle for eighth.
Lewis Hamilton explained that the lack of incidents reduced his chances of making gains, while a compromised setup and a misstep in qualifying execution also cost Ferrari. He noted missing an extra set of medium tyres in qualifying as a setback, and admitted that, even with a perfectly optimised weekend, fourth or fifth would likely have been the maximum result.
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Asked by Sportskeeda how much the DRS train compromised his potential to make gains during the race, Lewis Hamilton said:
“Oh, well, I was going long in the hope there would be some sort of safety car, and there was nothing, so that was unfortunate. This happened a lot this year where you've just not seen any incidents. Yeah, and everyone was obviously in that DRS train for quite some time. But also, I think our set up choice to the end, I think wasn't great and obviously our procedure, the execution in qualifying was not great, which he put us in that position. So to be fighting for 8th and 9th is, I think. If we had optimise the weekend, I think we would have been slightly further ahead, maybe fourth and fifth.”
Hamilton was fairly disappointed with his underwhelming outing in Azerbaijan.
Lewis Hamilton rues a disappointing result at the Azerbaijan GP
Lewis Hamilton described his Azerbaijan GP result as disappointing, despite feeling that Ferrari had stronger pace around the Baku street circuit. While he found the car more competitive, the Briton said it was difficult to close in on rivals ahead, spending much of the race trapped in a DRS train that left him no higher than eighth place.
Lewis Hamilton stressed the importance of qualifying, pointing to Carlos Sainz’s example in the Williams, where starting in the top three translated into a podium finish. He admitted that, at best, he could only have gained four places over the weekend, but was encouraged by some of the positives the team can take forward. The seven-time world champion added that while a podium was always the target, he remains hopeful of reaching that milestone by the end of the season.
Asked to describe his race and the result, Lewis Hamilton said:
“Definitely, not where we want to be bit obviously disappointing result at the end of the day, but I did go forward from 12, which was partly I of this start and I think my pace was generally good. I mean, I was flat out, I was definitely much better, much happier in the car. It was difficult today to close up on the cars ahead. They were very fast clearly qualifying is very important, and we missed out on that. If you look at the Williams, where they qualified and finished there, so yeah. But there's lots of positives to take from it and definitely, it's a draw from the weekend, which I'll try and take into the next one.”
Asked how important it is to get a podium by the end of the season, he said:
“It would be nice but it wont change much for me.”
Lewis Hamilton sits sixth in the drivers’ standings, with his only podium of the season coming from victory in the Chinese GP sprint race. While his adaptation to Ferrari have shown signs of improvement in recent weekends, securing a podium in a Grand Prix remains a key target for the Briton.
The Prancing Horse outfit, meanwhile, has slipped to third in the constructors’ standings after the Azerbaijan GP. Mercedes now hold second with 290 points, just ahead of Ferrari on 286, while Red Bull trail closely in fourth with 272 points. With only 18 points covering the three teams, the battle for second place in the constructors’ championship is shaping up to be one of the closest fights of the season.
