Q: Lewis, qualifying seemed a little tougher for you with the Red Bulls and Ferraris up in front. How are you feeling about it?Lewis Hamilton: I’m okay with it. I’ve been saying for a long time that we are the third team at the moment and that we are not fast enough. But we’ll keep pushing and do the best that we can. Q: So what do you expect to happen during the race?
LH: Hopefully we will have good weather and hopefully we can fight with the guys in front and try to make up some places.
Q: Were you surprised by the pace of the cars in front of you?
LH: No, I have not been surprised about the pace of the other cars, and I am not surprised that I am starting from P6. As I just said, I’ve been saying for quite a while that we are the third fastest team on the grid. Today the two teams in front simply did a better job. They have better downforce and their cars work pretty well. I have to admit that my lap was not fantastic and my qualifying pace was quite poor. I was already a tenth down through Turn One and then it’s really difficult to make it up. When you are really on the limit and you are really trying to pull everything out of the car sometimes that happens. That’s the way it is. I know that I did the best job I could.
Q: Is a podium within reach?
LH: You can be sure that we will do everything we can to be on the podium. Our race pace is better than our qualifying pace. We have demonstrated that many times this season.
Q: How much of a role will tyres play in the race?
LH: Well, I think that the guys in front are all pretty much on the same strategy. In my case, I have not driven the car on heavy fuel this weekend so it will be interesting to see how it works.
Q: Did your crash on Friday impair your qualifying pace?
LH: No, not really. It was wet so nobody was doing any fantastic times that would have made a difference for the grid.
Q: You are still leading the championship …
LH: Well, I would have preferred to qualify much higher. Overall I have to say that our pace has improved over the weekend, but we still have time to find on the track.
Q: Is the new blown diffuser to blame for your time?
LH: No, it must be another part of the car. We are the fastest team on the straights but don’t have enough downforce. But we have to keep working to eliminate those shortcomings.
Q: What about the race?
LH: I hope that I will get a good start and build from there. I know that we’ve been struggling in the first and last sectors, but we have seen that in a race anything can happen and Turn One, right after the start, might be the decisive part of the track.
Source: Formula1.com
