Hamilton: 'I've generally been unhappy in the car all weekend'

F1 News

19 June 2021 at 15:41
  • Toby McLuskie

Lewis Hamilton was unable to best Max Verstappen in qualifying today ahead of the French Grand Prix tomorrow, as the Brit found himself in second place after Q3. The Mercedes driver felt the weekend has been a struggle so far.

"It's been a really, really hard weekend. Mentally, and just trying to get the car into a happy place," Hamilton explained to Paul Di Resta after the session had ended. 

He went on to add that the weekend didn't start well and has set him and the team up for a tough weekend, saying, "you wouldn't believe how many changes I've made since Practice One, going round and round chasing our tails and ending up coming back to something similar to where we started. I've generally been unhappy in the car all weekend."

However, it wasn't all doom and gloom and after the race, he made sure to congratulate his Championship rival Max Verstappen on the performance that he and Red Bull did today.

"Congratulations to Max, they've done an incredible job this weekend and they're incredibly quick. They've got a new engine this weekend and they're quick on the straight. We're loving the battle."

Hopeful for tomorrow

Hamilton admitted that the Red Bull was faster today but still has hope for the race tomorrow, stating, "there is a lot of time on the straights. We have a race on our hands and we are loving the battle. We are going to keep pushing and fighting. In practice as I said we struggled.

"In the long run pace, they were a tenth or two quicker than us, but the car is in a different place now. So, I am just going to stay hopeful. There will be an interesting strategy at play."