Lewis Hamilton believes he lost at least in second place in the final sector after his pole position challenge, but finished fifth on the British Grand Prix grid.
The Ferrari upgraded car showed signs of progress in Austria, but was even more competitive with Silverstone throughout the weekend, with both drivers coming in from the beginning of Friday’s practice. Hamilton appeared in the interim pole position time set by Oscar Piastri, but only Max Verstappen was behind him, but then lost time in the final sequence of corners, at 0.203s, the fifth fastest from Verstappen’s excellent final effort.
“I was just 16 and understeered and lost the time I had,” Hamilton said. “It probably costs at least two seconds.
“I’m really pleased with the progress. I’m really happy with the direction. My engineer and I have gelled much better in terms of how I set up the car. I was much happier with the car. The rap was really, really great.
“I don’t know (what is possible in a race). I don’t even bother to think about it. Tomorrow will be even worse. Maybe.
With strong gusts and a much cooler day than Friday, Hamilton admitted that Ferrari may have lost competitiveness as the weather changes, but is encouraged by recent signs he is watching from his team.
“The up and down conditions were definitely challenging,” he said. “When it got a little cooler, I think it definitely wasn’t as good for us as it was when it was hot.
“We’re making progress, there’s more, but the last race has had an upgrade, improving the progress of the weekend. We definitely feel like we’re punching better results.