Lewis Hamilton shared a sharp criticism of the Pirelli tires after a disappointing Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying, calling them a “pain in the a***”. Hamilton said that he could not get the right temperatures into his tires during the session, and simply stated that F1 needs to bring back “some good tires”.
Hamilton had an underwhelming time in qualifying for the Azerbaijan GP on Friday, as the Briton ended the session P6, over 1.2 seconds behind pole-sitter George Russell and also half a second behind teammate Charles Leclerc in second. After the session, Hamilton explained that he was hindered by late changes in plan from Ferrari in Q3, as well as having nobody in front of him for a slipstream, leading to the deficit.
But Hamilton shared his biggest criticism from the session for the Pirelli tires, calling them “st*pid” as he urged F1 to get rid of and reintroduce better tires.
“I was weaving to try and save my life, and I still couldn’t get these st*pid tires to work. It’s such a pain in the a***. Yeah, we gotta bring back some good tires,” said Hamilton [via Sky Sports].
Lewis Hamilton also conceded that Ferrari would have been no match for Mercedes and George Russell’s pace on Friday even if the team had nailed its execution, as the Silver Arrows seem simply too quick this weekend. But the driver described his qualifying as “pretty bad” after yet another disappointing session.
Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, also admitted after qualifying that Ferrari has been on the back foot throughout the Azerbaijan GP weekend when compared to Mercedes. He also added that he felt he put in a good lap to take P2 but was almost a second off George Russell in pole.
Lewis Hamilton previews the Azerbaijan GP following underwhelming qualifying
Lewis Hamilton also admitted that trying to match Mercedes during the Azerbaijan GP on Saturday will be a tough task. The 7x world champion said that Ferrari will not be able to match the Mercedes power unit’s speed on the straights in Baku, but he will give it his best to try and keep up with the drivers around him.
Speaking to the media about the race after qualifying on Friday, Hamilton said:
“It’s gonna be hard to overtake the Mercedes tomorrow. Keeping up with the Mercedes engine on the straight will be tough, but I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”
For Lewis Hamilton, the immediate concern is not George Russell, but Lando Norris in front of him, whose McLaren MCL40 is also powered by the Mercedes engine. With Oscar Piastri in third and even Pierre Gasly down in P7, the Ferraris of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in P2 will be surrounded by Mercedes-powered cars on Saturday.
Edited by Samyak Sharma