Hamilton does not explain his poor performance in Sochi

Lewis Hamilton will have a lot to do to avoid that his rival Sebastian Vettel does not increase the gap in the Championship. The pilot Mercedes will only start from 4th place on the grid for the Russian GP after failing almost half a second behind his teammate Valtteri Bottas.

The three-time world champion, who had not obtained such a bad result in qualifying since last year's Belgian Grand Prix where he received several penalties, does not explain his poor performance even if he was disturbed in Q3 before his attempt by Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) with whom he fought for a better position.

“It takes more than that to destabilize me, said Lewis Hamilton. I just wasn't fast enough today. I have to work to understand why. It all came down to the last sector where I lost half a second. Everything is decided tomorrow and I am at least in the right package. »

Ferrari surprises Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton nevertheless recognizes that the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen who will start on the front row will be difficult to get on a regular basis, given the performance displayed by the SF70Hs.

“They are the fastest, both today in qualifying and in race pace, and it will be interesting to see where we are compared to them. The objective is obviously to progress but my pace on the long relays was not very satisfactory. So I hope to do better”, added Lewis Hamilton.