Lewis Hamilton beats Ferrari and warns his rivals: “We’re close”

Ferrari shows strong improvement in qualifying for the Catalan Grand Prix. For the first time since joining the Maranello team, Lewis Hamilton will start from the front row alongside pole-sitter George Russell, and signs of progress for the Scuderia are evident, despite Charles Leclerc’s crash having somewhat dampened the enthusiasm.

The seven-time world champion emphasized that the gap to the Silver Arrows has narrowed significantly: “Usually, we’re four-tenths behind Mercedes every weekend; being so close today—less than a tenth behind—shows the great work being done in Maranello. The important thing now is to keep pushing; we have to keep pace with George and Kimi.”

The British driver, second in the standings, explained how he achieved the time during a weekend that was anything but easy: “In FP2 I was a second and a half off the pace; I didn’t have the feel for it, I wasn’t comfortable. Then there’s the fact that these tires only last one lap—it’s hard to build confidence. This morning in FP3 I was still way off the pace. But then I went into Q1 and set the fastest time; I realized I’d turned things around.”

He then warned everyone about the tires: “We expected some tire wear, but we’re getting twice as much. I think we’ll need at least two pit stops in the race.” On Sunday’s race and Leclerc’s mistake: “These cars are difficult to drive; I felt good with the updates. Charles brought a lot of speed into that corner, but then something obviously happened. It won’t be easy to challenge Mercedes without him.”