Lewis Hamilton reveals how Ferrari “hit the sweet spot” with late F1 car changes in Bahrain GP qualifying

Lewis Hamilton says late set-up tweaks to his Formula 1 car helped Ferrari “hit the sweet spot” in qualifying at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. 

Seven-time world champion Hamilton produced an impressive last-gasp effort with his final lap of Q3 to bag a front-row starting slot as he missed out on a first pole position in three years by 0.298 seconds to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. 

The result took Hamilton by surprise after Ferrari had struggled for one lap pace throughout the weekend so far in Sepang, but the 41-year-old Briton revealed that changes to his SF-26 helped turn things around. 

"It's so hot here. I keep saying it, but that's made it a massive challenge for the tyres, for the car, for the mechanics in the garage, and I'm really, really thankful to my team,” Hamilton said in parc ferme. 

"We made so many changes through all these practice sessions, and because the cars are sliding, and these tyres are overheating, it was really, really hard to find a good balance.

"We made one last change going into qualifying, and I think we hit the sweet spot," the 106-time grand prix winner added.

"So to be able to close the gap to two or three tenths to Max, who's been so quick all weekend, is great. I'm so, so grateful."

Hamilton praised the work of his mechanics and Ferrari’s execution on his way to securing his best qualifying result since June's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, where he famously claimed a memorable first victory in red. 

“We were kind of looking at fifth or sixth, throughout the weekend, in the ultimate pace compared to the rest. We saw Mercedes come with a big upgrade and, considering they’ve been winning every race, thought the upgrade would really propel them even further forwards,” Hamilton said. 

“But it’s just interesting to find ourselves here. The car felt great. We’ve made lots of changes. I think they’ve got a great package. Red Bull have obviously been making some great progress. I mean, the only place we lose is down the straights to them. I think we’re losing three or four tenths on the straights to them, which we know of, and so we just work as hard as we can to try and maximise in the corners. 

“But I think we were able to do that today. So, this is really down to the mechanics and the engineers. We all did a really great job together, and then also execution was really on point. If we could keep this up, hopefully we can get better results moving forwards.”

Speaking in the post-session press conference, Hamilton went on to provide further detail on the changes he and his Ferrari team made ahead of qualifying. 

“These cars are so sensitive,” he explained. “You make the smallest change and it’s ridiculous the difference it can make from one run, one session, to the other. One click of front wing, or one millimetre ride height, a quarter of a degree of camber, or 0.1 of toe, or something like that. 

“These little things make such a big difference to balance, and it’s literally a moving target that you’re trying to work around with set-up and then also controls that we have. Even then, understanding throttle application. If you get to full throttle too early and you lose time down the straight. 

“These kind of things that I don’t think many of us like, but mastering all that together is a massive challenge and obviously makes it even harder for us because I think we’re so on the edge, because we are losing so much on the straights. 

“So, I’m just hoping that we continue to work hard. If we get to a point where we have base power with these guys, I think we’re going to have an even better fight in future.”