14/04/2025 17:30
Lewis Hamilton has revealed to 'holding a discussion with himself'
to emerge from his dark mood that prevailed after qualifying for
the Bahrain Grand Prix. Hamilton started a lowly ninth on the grid
at the Bahrain International Circuit, finishing six-tenths of a
second behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc who was on the
front row behind polesitter Oscar Piastri in his McLaren after
Mercedes' George Russell was handed a one-place penalty. The
seven-time F1 champion's post-qualifying interview in the written
media pen was barely audible as he mumbled answers to questions. He
did, however, state he was "not doing a good enough job". Former F1
driver and Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok went so far as to
suggest that Hamilton's demeanour reminded him of how the
40-year-old came across last year in his final season with Mercedes
. Hamilton ensured he did not let the situation affect him on
Sunday as he recovered to finish ninth in the race, one place and
8.3s behind Leclerc. "I went to my hotel, sorted it out, and had a
discussion with myself," said Hamilton, speaking to media,
including RacingNews365 . "I knew the next day would be a new day,
so I tried to start more positively. "Obviously, qualifying isn't
good enough, but if I can get the car where it was, for example, in
that middle stint [of the race], and I start delivering in
qualifying - and you can see I can still race - so if I fix that,
then I should have better weekends." The weekend mirrored many of
those from last season when Hamilton bemoaned his qualifying
outings with Mercedes, only to recover during the race on Sunday.
As to whether he felt there was any carry-over in his qualifying
performances from his time at Mercedes, Hamilton said: "It's a much
different car but it's even worse qualifying this year than I had
last year. "I'll just keep keep trying. I'll get there. I'll get
there eventually."
