1 week Ago By Patrick Carey
Lewis Hamilton made a heartfelt apology to his Ferrari colleagues after he endured yet another poor qualifying session - this time at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion struggled badly in qualifying during his final season at Mercedes and his dismal form seems to have followed him to Ferrari, where he has so far qualified no higher than fifth across four races. It wasn't all bad news for 'The Prancing Horse' as Hamilton's teammate Charles Leclerc produced a solid effort in qualifying to bag a spot on the front row of the grid in second.
The Brit had been hopeful of securing a similarly lofty starting berth, with Ferrari having upgraded his car since last weekend's Japanese Grand Prix. Hamilton showed his ability to turn grid position into success when winning the Sprint Race at the Chinese Grand Prix from pole last month. The 40-year-old made his race pace and ice-cold composure count as he experienced a rare moment of success in his new car.
So far this season, though, Hamilton has failed to make much impact in full races, often finding himself battling to hold position in the middle of the pack, rather than competing for a place on the podium. Lewis Hamilton's Apology to Ferrari After Qualifying in Bahrain After he could only qualify in ninth position for Sunday's race, Hamilton held his hands up on the team radio and took full responsibility for his poor performance. Sounding completely deflated, he offered up a seven-word apology: "Sorry guys, sorry man.
I’m really sorry!" Whether Hamilton is totally to blame for the underperformance is debatable. He seemingly had issues with the balance of his Ferrari all weekend, with rumours on Saturday morning that the upgrades weren’t working as desired. The performance of Charles Leclerc in Q3 proved that it's not all doom and gloom for Ferrari.
The Monegasque driver extracted everything from his car to leave himself P3 - which was upgraded to P2 after a penalty for George Russell for leaving his garage too early in qualifying. However, Leclerc's starting position is likely more down to his individual skill than the true pace of the car. In addition, Red Bull’s calamitous weekend has perhaps made his Ferrari look more competitive.
Despite currently being one point off the championship lead, Max Verstappen has had a lot of complaints about the car this season, but they looked to have turned the corner with his incredible drive to win in Suzuka last weekend. Unfortunately, for the Dutchman, Bahrain has been a completely different story. The reigning world champion faced consistent braking problems and lacked overall pace as he could only qualify in P7.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda has had a more encouraging weekend, though, grabbing P10 and marking the first time that the second Red Bull has qualified within three places of Verstappen since last year's race in Brazil. Top 5 Drivers' Championship ahead of Bahrain GP Position Driver Team Points 1. Lando Norris McLaren 62 2.
Max Verstappen Red Bull 61 3. Oscar Piastri McLaren 49 4. George Russell Mercedes 45 5.
Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 30 Despite his underwhelming performance in qualifying, one saving grace for Hamilton in Sunday's race could come via the fact that Bahrain is historically a track where overtaking is very possible. With three DRS zones, two of them almost back to back at the start of the lap, there will be a number of opportunities for the Ferrari man to improve his track position during the race. This is in stark contrast to last weekend's Japanese Grand Prix , where overtaking proved challenging.
Another driver who will be hoping this is the case is McLaren's Lando Norris, who similarly struggled in qualifying. While his teammate Oscar Piastri took a dominant pole, Lando was left down in sixth, his lowest starting position of the season. That starting position gives Piastri the opportunity to take the championship lead, with his two title rivals starting sixth and seventh.
Even though there’s a long way to go, Saturday's qualifying seemed a pivotal spin in the McLaren inter-team battle with Piastri executing a very well-put-together lap. Norris even admits that he expects Piastri to dominate the race, but has set a target to feature on the podium. Lewis Hamilton has raced some of the very best in Formula 1, but one has received special praise from the Ferrari man.
.
