“I was just slow”: Lewis Hamilton blames himself for shocking qualifying result at Bahrain

Lewis Hamilton blamed himself for a disappointing qualifying result on Saturday for the Bahrain GP, where he posted the ninth-fastest lap while his teammate, Charles Leclerc, finished third. Hamilton took responsibility for the underwhelming result, acknowledging that he was slow and that there were no major mistakes in his final run.

Hamilton was nearly three-tenths slower than his teammate Leclerc in the Q2 session. The gap doubled to six-tenths in the final Q3 run, with Hamilton posting a 1:30.772 compared to Leclerc’s 1:30.175. While the British driver delivered a strong first sector, he lost time in the second and third sectors to the Monegasque driver.

For a race weekend where Ferrari introduced a raft of upgrades, Lewis Hamilton could only secure a ninth-place starting position, just ahead of Yuki Tsunoda. Taking full responsibility, Hamilton offered an apology to both his team and the Tifosi. He was brutally honest in the post-qualifying interview, conceding that he had no confidence going into the race.

"No error, I was just slow. I have no confidence in the race at the moment and i feel sorry for all the team, the factory and Tifosi," he told Sky Sports.

Hamilton also apologized to the team over the radio, where he said:

"I'm sorry guys, sorry, really sorry.."

He elaborated on his comments over the radio, stating that his struggles on Saturday seemed to have followed him from Mercedes to Ferrari. He said:

"It's just about my performance, my poor performance... There's no reasons... Its just, I'm not doing the job. Well it happens every Saturday, yes."

Oscar Piastri took pole position, with George Russell starting on the front row, with Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli behind. Pierre Gasly overachieved with the fifth-fastest lap, while Lando Norris had an underwhelming Q3 session, posting only the sixth-fastest time. Max Verstappen starts seventh.

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Ferrari team principal elaborates on Lewis Hamilton's shortcomings

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur insisted that Lewis Hamilton was close to Charles Leclerc's pace throughout the weekend. He highlighted that Hamilton’s first Q3 run on used tires was quicker than Leclerc’s, suggesting strong underlying speed. However, he said that a mistake during the final run ultimately cost him the 7x champion a better starting position.

Vasseur also explained that Hamilton's qualifying struggles could be linked to keeping the tires in the right temperature window over the entire lap. He said (via Autoracer.it, translated from Italian)

"In the second lap he made a small mistake that forced him to stay behind, but overall I think the pace was there for the whole weekend. It's a shame that he didn't put it all together in the last lap. It's linked to the problem of keeping the tyres in the right window for the whole lap, but this applies to everyone."

While Leclerc will be aiming to convert his top-three starting position into a podium finish, Lewis Hamilton is setting his sights on securing a top-five result in the 57-lap race. The Bahrain GP is scheduled for this Sunday (April 13) at 6:00 PM Track time (3:00 PM UTC).