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Lewis Hamilton is set to start the 2022 F1 Singapore Grand Prix from the second row on Sunday after setting the third-fastest lap time in what was arguably one of the most exciting qualifying sessions of the year so far. The Briton was on provisional pole in several instances but eventually lost the position to Charles Leclerc, who will be starting from the front row alongside Sergio Perez at the Marina Bay Circuit.
In a post-qualifying media interaction, Lewis Hamilton admitted that he was hoping to secure his first pole position of the 2022 season with the blistering pace of the Mercedes. He said:
“I was pushing so hard, it was so close. I thought with a perfect lap we could be fighting for first place. I just didn’t have the grip in that last lap. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.”
“We didn’t know how close we would be this weekend, stronger than Monza. It’s OK - we just get up and fight again tomorrow.”
Lewis Hamilton says his move from McLaren to Mercedes "changed a lot" in his life
Lewis Hamilton took the world by shock when he announced that he was moving from McLaren to Mercedes back in 2012, at a time when the Silver Arrows were not nearly as competitive as McLaren. His decision, however, soon proved to be one of the best that he has ever made, given that Hamilton won a whopping six world championship titles with the team.
Speaking about his decision to move to Mercedes at a press conference in Singapore, the 37-year-old confessed that while several people around him did not agree with his decision, it turned out to be a good one. Lewis Hamilton said:
“It definitely changed a lot in my life, I think, because I’ve obviously had that kind of dry spell, I would say more so because I’d taken the step and the leap of faith, moving to another team. That went against most of the advice that I had had from people around me, people that you would consider mentors, who all said to stay where I was, stay put. And the kind of the experience that I had in terms of… It was actually after this race, people seemed to think that it was during this race that I made the decision to move. It wasn’t and actually this race had no effect on that. When the gearbox failed here in 2012 that had no effect on my decision, because those things happen.”
“It was more… I think the week after, just sitting in Thailand, just managed to be in a very peaceful place and it really came to me that I was going to take this leap. And so to have taken that step and obviously all the backlash makes you question whether or not you really have made the right decision and I’m so proud and grateful to all the members within the team of how they welcomed me into the team and gave me the position to be able to fight for a World title.”
Lewis Hamilton won his first title in 2008, which marks McLaren's last world drivers' championship.
