Lewis Hamilton has low expectations from the Austrian GP sprint as he targets “a better qualifying"

Lewis Hamilton summarised his sprint qualifying ahead of the 2024 Austrian GP to be a disaster and painted a grim picture for the sprint race. Speaking to F1TV, the Mercedes driver preferred to focus on the main qualifying ahead of the race.

Qualifying sixth for the sprint race at the Red Bull Ring circuit, Lewis Hamilton was unable to string a clean lap. His laps in all three sessions were scrappy and he was seen running wide at Turn 6 and 7 into the gravel on his final attempt.

The seven-time world champion looked better in the practice session earlier in the day than in the sprint. He complained of not having the pace throughout the three sessions and was not satisfied with his laps.

Summarizing his sprint qualifying session, Lewis Hamilton said:

“I wasn't in the mix at all, the whole session was pretty disastrous from our point of view. What can I say? Practice felt good, the car generally felt good. I don’t think we had the pace obviously to be on pole, but… Yeah, very bad laps – every single one of them. Who knows? I don’t think overtaking is like mega here, but we’ll give it our best. It’s usually not such an eventful race, so I think focus will be mostly on getting a better qualifying tomorrow.”

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Lewis Hamilton reckons 2024 F1 tires are more sensitive than in the past

Lewis Hamilton claims that the 2024 tires have been the most sensitive and believes it is very easy to overwork them. One of the reasons the Briton has been overworking the tires is his aggressive cornering style, which makes it very easy for the tires to move out of their optimum performance window.

Speaking to onsite media ahead of the Austrian GP weekend, the Briton felt that Mercedes unlocked some potential from their car in Canada and Barcelona and are trying to build on it.

Explaining the improvements made by Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton said:

“There’s a huge amount of analysis. I have requested a lot of information from the team on how we can improve, where we are lacking. Typically, once we get to qualifying, things do change a little bit. The car is obviously lighter, you are in the DRS a lot more. Time will tell but I think we cracked something. Now to try and build on it.”

Commenting on the 2024 tires, he added:

“It just shows it’s not easy to have the tyres working, it’s easy to over-work the tyres. They’re definitely more sensitive than in any other season that I remember being. Getting a perfect lap is always… the pressure is incredibly high, I think, on these weekends where you’ve got a Sprint race.”

Lewis Hamilton is currently eighth in the drivers standings with a total of 70 points, whereas George Russell is seventh in the standings with a total of 81 points. The gap between the Mercedes duo is narrow and much smaller than the same time of the year in 2022.

Nevertheless, given Mercedes’ form, the British champion has not been able to clinch podiums regularly as he did in 2023, which placed him third in the championship.