Hamilton Points At 2022 Change That Affected Qualifying Show After Mexico F1 Pole

· Yahoo Sports


Lewis Hamilton points to tools that he hasn’t used in 13 years, referring to the tire change that made F1 qualifying harder, as he scored his first pole in the Mexico GP with Ferrari.

It took him nearly two seasons to secure his first F1 pole with Ferrari, but Hamilton finally did it in the Mexico GP by 0.009s over former teammate George Russell in the Mercedes. It was his first since the 2023 season as well.

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Hamilton was once the king of pole position (105 poles), but from the 2022 season onward, he has only scored two of them thus far. Coincidentally, it was from the 2022 season that F1 moved to 18-inch compound tires from the previous 13-inch tires.

Hamilton Faced Issues with Current Generation of F1 Tires

Having secured his first Ferrari pole, Hamilton finally admitted that the switch to 18-inch tires has been the downer for him. He has simply struggled to come to terms with the tires, due to how they are constructed on the rim side.

He states that the 13-inch tires were a lot softer and a driver could feel it when driving on them, but the 18-inch is a rock-solid compound, which makes the operational window a lot smaller. It has made his life difficult to get a perfect lap in.

In Mexico, he could finally nail everything together in a lap, and the result was an F1 pole. But Hamilton is elated to secure pole position with Ferrari, something that he saw Michael Schumacher do dominantly and regularly too.

But it is a pole on the most difficult track on the calendar, considering the long straight. There is almost every chance of being overtaken, which Hamilton is mindful of. After the FP2 miss, he is heading into the Grand Prix without long-run knowledge.

Here’s what Lewis Hamilton said after the F1 Mexico GP qualifying –

First Pole with Ferrari After Watching Schumacher Do It

“It definitely does. It’s been a long time since I think I’ve sat in this spot. I don’t really remember the last time I had a pole. Embarking on this journey with Ferrari and all the challenges and ups and downs we’ve had, and even yesterday was challenging, obviously when the car stopped on track and we lost the long run that everyone got to do.

“But just continuing to hold on to that hope that one day we’ll get back on the front row and to P1 once we dialed the car in. But it was such a close qualifying and so difficult, I think, for everyone, working the tires. So little downforce and grip that you have on here, so you just have to be as millimeter perfect as you can be. It was a really, really clean lap.

“I needed it because, I mean, Charles, I think, was three or four tenths up the road from the first run, and that’s quite a big deficit to close on your last lap. But I knew areas that I could improve on, and, yeah, I think just my belief in this team, the opportunity that they’ve given me and the belief and faith they’ve put in me.

“It feels great to be able to reward them with a pole. And to have your first Ferrari pole, I mean, jeez, it just takes me back to watching Michael get all those pole positions when he was at Ferrari and all those wins. So, it’s very, very special.”

Hamilton Admits Difficulties with the 18-inch Tires

“Honestly, I knew all weekend that I had the pace to be on pole, but these sessions were just up and down. Obviously, Charles was very, very quick. I think the key is getting the tires working. You see us all go out and it looks like we’re doing okay, but the tyres operate in a very small window where they’re good, and then they overheat.

“I’m really perfecting that. That’s been something I’ve really struggled with, I would say, probably the last few years, particularly as we went to the 18-inch tire. So just learning to drive differently. It’s a bit of a different skill set, or just a different way you have to drive and approach these corners, and it requires a different type of balance usage.

“So, I think I wasutilizeo utilize a couple more tools that I’ve not used for like 13 years. And then I think, just there, as I said, just got the tires in the perfect window on that out-lap. Once I was through Turns 1, 2 and 3, it was kind of smooth from there, and I just don’t think I lost any time anywhere, to be honest. So, it was just an overall good lap, but I know these guys are super close.”

Why it is Difficult to Nail and Difference

“Yeah, it’s just feeling. You’re looking at… we have obviously guidance of tire temperatures we need to reach. All of us are pushing very hard on out-laps to try and get the tires to work and in the window. And as you go down the straights, the tires lose temperature, obviously. And it is quite a hard tire.

“I remember back in the day we used to crawl around super slow, and then you start pushing and the ires are ready. I think the 13-inch period for me was a nicer, softer tire. It took the bumps better. I like the movement of the tire. You could feel it more. This one’s just solid. It’s like a rock-solid wall.

“It doesn’t really move much because it’s such a short sidewall. It performs well when you get it working, and I think that’s really how I felt today. Finally, I was able to extract the most from the tire, and it stayed through the lap. More often than not, you’re like, ‘The front tire is not in for Turn 1, but the rears are,’ and the fronts start coming in and the rears start going off. It’s this constant seesaw you’re having.

Needle in the Haystack for Hamilton

“Then sometimes the rears aren’t ready as you come out of the last corner to start the lap, but then at the end they’re better. Sometimes they’re too ready. So, trying to find that balance, I’m telling you, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack. And honestly, it’s been very, very, very tricky to find. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. You just continue to work at it.

“I think some others are able to maybe get in a better window easier. I think even George was mentioning that they were doing a prep lap. It was really on the cusp of whether we would do a prep lap or we would go for the first lap. But as I said, that last one I managed to hold on to temperature. Every time you have to back up to make a gap, you lose several degrees and you can’t catch it back up. So the out-lap’s important also. There are so many factors.”

Long-Run Pace for Race

“Yeah, in general, I don’t think this year I’ve had a good long run. We’ve either pushed our short laps too long and then got into the long run, but I’ve not had one good long run where it’s consistent and got the balance right. Coming into this weekend, we met up on Wednesday. We went over all the areas that we can improve on, different approaches, things that we learned from the last race.

“We’re like, ‘We’re going to make sure we get a good long run in this weekend.’ Big, big focus. And then the car stopped! And then I just watched the rest of the session where everyone was pounding around and getting those long runs in. So, I don’t know how the car will behave on the long run on heavy fuel, and I also don’t know the settings that I’m going to need.

“So those are the things I’m going to have to kind of guesstimate tonight and take my… we’ll take our best guess to hopefully get the car in the right window for tomorrow. But, yeah, very, very challenging. It’s obviously a really long way down to Turn 1, so I don’t think you’ve ever been on pole here before.”

Power Unit Situation

“I think fundamentally we’ve got a great car. We’ve worked a lot on this car. I think the engineers are doing a really great job. The mechanics and the garage are doing a really great job as well. And for two weeks in a row, we’ve really executed perfectly, I would say, through qualifying. All the other circuits we’ve gone to, I mean, Mercedes, they still are pulling a little bit more in the straights, but it’s just not as costly as it has been in the previous races.

“When you’re losing five tenths on the straight in some races, five, six in Silverstone, whatever, to McLaren, I think it was, and more often averaging three to four, there’s not really much we can do, especially as everyone else is developing their car and they’ve slowly closed the gap.

“So, through corners, they’re pretty much just as quick as us. Then we’re just at that deficit. So, I think the altitude has enabled us to somehow close that gap a little bit, and I’m sure we’re still losing something on the straight, but maybe it’s just a tenth or two. So, mega job to the team.”

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