Lewis Hamilton said the bouncing of his Mercedes W15 ruined his qualifying session for tomorrow’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The British driver took the eight position on the grid for tomorrow’s race behind teammate George Russell, and after the session stressed that “it wasn’t a good qualifying at all.”
“I really struggled with the car yesterday, and then FP3 I was really much happier with the car, with a slightly bigger wing, but I was lowing two-tenths in the straight.
“But I gained some stability back, and I was much, much happier, and I thought I would carry that into qualifying.”
Despite the set-up change and the different rear wing, Hamilton said bouncing was still present and making life difficult.
“Unfortunately, the bouncing is still there,” he said. “It makes it very, very difficult to push through that for a session. That’s why we were so slow in that first sector.”
However, Hamilton was cautious not to discredit the W15 and said the car was still “so much better than last year, in every area.”
“It’s just that it’s really causing us some real big trouble. In the second or third sector, we were a lot closer, and we’re able to be closer through some of all the rest of the corners, but just that first section – it’s the same as last year.
“I mean, jeez, qualified ninth and eight, so I’ve had a horrendous two qualifying sessions.
“I think tomorrow is just about being cool. And I’m just going to try and enjoy myself tomorrow.
“It is what it is, but we’re not fighting for the front, for the wing. So I’ll try and bag as many points as I can tomorrow.”