© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Despite being knocked out in Q1 of Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Qualifying, Lewis Hamilton says he doesn’t “feel the pain in the teeth”.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Qualifying didn’t go well for Lewis Hamilton, as he got knocked out in Q1, and will be starting the race from P18.
During the session, Mercedes warned Lewis that he might struggle to start his final lap because of traffic and the time left on the clock, but he ultimately managed to cross the line in time.
However, he then ran into a bollard, which was knocked loose by Kevin Magnussen, and it got lodged under his car, which ruined any chances of getting out of Q1.
“You couldn’t make it up, you really couldn’t, but it is what it is,” Lewis said afterwards.
“We gave it everything, I gave it everything, the car was in a good place. Every practice session went well, I was ahead of my teammate all weekend but when we got to qualifying I think as a team we didn’t perform in terms of the timing.
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“I was the last car on track and ran out of time, ultimately, and then I got the bollard at the end which went under the car and I lost all downforce so it couldn’t have gone worse really.”
However, despite this, Lewis did not feel downbeat.
“Nah, I don’t feel the pain in the teeth, as such. I think for me, I’ve just been very present, been enjoying every moment, I’ve got the car in a really good place.
“The setup changes we’ve been making, the car has been completely different to the last five races this weekend — it’s been feeling really great. So it is unfortunate, but… The pace was decent.
“It’s not going to be easy to overtake tomorrow, but I work on strategy now and instead of fighting for the podium, we’ll see how far — if I can get into the top 10, that would be amazing,” Hamilton concluded.
