© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Lewis Hamilton says George Russell is “right up there on the second row, so the car is obviously working”, but he just doesn’t “feel connected to this car”.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton qualified for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in P4 and P8 respectively, however due to Charles Leclerc’s penalty, they will start the race from P3 and P7.
After qualifying, Lewis said he doesn’t feel “connected” to his car at the moment.
“The car is where it is, George did a great job, he’s right up there on the second row, so the car is obviously working,” the Briton said.
“I just don’t feel connected to this car. No matter what I do, no matter what I change, I can’t get the confidence back.
“I just struggled to extract the performance from the car… In high-speed, [the] car was a bit understeery.
“It’s a little bit different, yeah — one or two different things. Hopefully will be OK for tomorrow.”
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Asked if he thinks the car can perform better in the race, Lewis said:
“I wouldn’t hold my breath…”
However, with Verstappen suffering car issues in quali, which relegated him to P15, Russell believes there is a chance to fight for a podium position.
“I think we can definitely fight for a podium,” Russell said.
“It seems close with Aston Martin. Ferrari have maybe got a tenth or two on us, but obviously we’re starting ahead of both of them. So no reason why we can’t fight for a podium.
“I think Max [Verstappen] is going to come through pretty comfortably, unless there’s any incidents or hold-ups.
“But we’ll go for it,” George concluded.
