IIt wasn’t a very good day for Mercedes, though. The team brought some updates here this weekend but, after encouragement in the last month or so, they have regressed back to their 2022-season mean. Lewis Hamilton managed to take a spot on the second row but was nearly nine-tenths off Leclerc’s ultimate pace. It was worse for George Russell, who was several tenths behind Hamilton and behind even McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Lewis Hamilton seemed a little confused as to how it all happened, though was happy with his lap.
“I came here thinking last race we were three or four tenths off and I thought maybe this weekend we would maybe be two or three tenths off and we have been a second [off] every weekend.
“To get to [within] nine tenths I was happy with my lap and with my performance but they [Red Bull and Ferrari] are in their own place.”
Team principal Toto Wolff criticized the team’s qualifying performance whilst praising Hamilton’s lap. “I think we knew that once we got the new tires on and we are driving the car in anger that we would be there in third and fourth, like we have been all season. But it’s just not good enough,” he told Sky Sports after qualifying.
“In the end the overall package is just not quick enough and we can see that.”
