Sir Lewis Hamilton believes he could have been on pole position at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix after claiming a podium finish in Sunday’s race and has vowed to improve on his qualifying form.
The seven-time world champion qualified fifth at the Marina Bay circuit while his Mercedes teammate George Russell locked out the front row with pole sitter Carlos Sainz of Ferrari.
A bold strategy from Mercedes after a second safety car brought Hamilton and Russell into serious contention for a potential victory late in the race but the latter crashed on the final lap which handed the former the final podium spot behind Sainz and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
“It’s all in hindsight but I think the thing I was most disappointing with…I mean George was so close to pole yesterday. I should have been on pole yesterday,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 after the race.
“But then we had a good race. The race was kind of textbook. The team did a good job with strategy.
“I’m in my element in the race. It’s just qualifying needs to get better. George was great all weekend.
“As a team, we risked it at the end and took the chance. I love that the team is doing that. It was a big gap to close up. It was definitely hard to overtake those guys at the end of the race.
“Probably needed another 5-10 laps and I think we would have got them.”
Back on the Singapore GP podium. ???? pic.twitter.com/oGxsembDJu
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 17, 2023
Russell has been stronger than Hamilton in qualifying in the last three races and the the 38-year-old Briton believes it is not only down to the car but his driving style among other factors.
“It’s clearly not just the car. George was on the front row,” he continued.
“It’s me, just my driving style, the changes that perhaps I’m making. It’s a lot of different things, so I need to look into that.
“I will naturally keep my head down, keep pushing and will not be satisfied until I get back there.”
Hamilton’s podium finish was his fifth of the season and the 196th of his illustrious F1 career. He moves 10 points above Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso to third in the drivers’ championship while he is 43 points behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and 194 points behind leader Max Verstappen who finished fifth and brought his winning streak of a record 10 consecutive races to a halt.
