In the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Mercedes drivers start from the third row. Lewis Hamilton is only a few thousandths ahead of team mate George Russell, but is upset that they lost too much to the pole-holder.
Lewis Hamilton (5th): “Of course, the features of that track helped to win the winning double in Brazil, and before Abu Dhabi we understood that it would be difficult for us here, but still we did not expect that we would give way to pole time by as much as three tenths. Therefore, the results of the qualification surprised us a little, because we lost so much to Red Bull – precisely due to the lack of speed on the straights.
In any case, I gave my all and now I will prepare for tomorrow’s race. Unfortunately, the vertical buildup of the car appears again on this track, and of course, we lose quite a lot on the straights. In addition, we have problems with the brakes all year round, the brake discs warm up in different ways, which is why the car pulls to the side when braking.
For example, I start to go into a left turn, and the car is clearly pulling to the right, and this is far from an ideal situation … “
George Russell (6th): “After the victory in Brazil, I’m in a good mood, but all this will quickly be in the past, because you have to look ahead and prepare for the next race. And now I think that we need to analyze everything and understand what we could have done better in today’s qualifying, but I almost don’t remember those glorious moments that I experienced a week ago.
We are here to fight again on the track, and, of course, this weekend I would like to repeat the success, for which I will try to start as best as possible. Although, of course, it will be difficult to claim the victory, because Max Verstappen and Red Bull are very fast, so we can only hope that there will be some incidents ahead of us.