Lewis Hamilton said a change in set-up on his car caused the handling problems which left him languishing in ninth on the grid.
“That was just one of those days,” he said after qualifying. “We had a bit of a problem, I think it was P2, with the set-up. We had a lot of understeer. So we changed it for P3, which was much more front-end but oversteery.
“So we opted to go back – well, I opted to go back – and unfortunately it didn’t work.”
“Yeah I really felt great in the car all weekend,” he added. “It was literally just we made some set-up changes going into this session and I had everything I could to get the car to turn in, it just wouldn’t turn in any more than it was.”
He said the yellow flags due to Kimi Raikkonen’s spin were not a major problem for him: “I was nowhere anyway.”
Hamilton was downbeat on his prospects for the race: “With the pace that I have, who knows. You never know what’s going to happen in the race. The long-run pace wasn’t bad yesterday but the car… I’m going to struggle with it, but I’ll do what I can.”
2012 Japanese Grand Prix
Image © McLaren/Hoch Zwei
Klaas (@klaas)
6th October 2012, 8:15
“I was nowhere” – no, that is where you’ll be next season.
Eggry (@eggry)
6th October 2012, 10:30
hahaha…
zicasso (@zicasso)
6th October 2012, 11:34
Not just because I am a fan but I still have my doubts about next season. In china no one got close to Mercedes and in Monaco the retired guy got pole position… Ross iseither genius or alien. Otherwise, how can we possibly explain Button’s world title?
Klaas (@klaas)
6th October 2012, 11:49
There was a very large loophole in the regulation, and from that grey area arised the mighty double diffuser – it was so powerful that it could transform even the average driver into a world champion.
Some say that one win, and one pole per season can’t get you championships. Britney’s dad might disagree but besides a mere win you have to be consistently there – where Mercedes aren’t at the moment (and haven’t been for a while) that is on the podium .
zicasso (@zicasso)
6th October 2012, 12:17
That’s why I feel Ross/Mercedes might be prepered for 2013.
Who knows what they have in store? Loophole or not no one was expecting Braun’s team to have that advantage, right?!
Kingshark (@kingshark)
6th October 2012, 8:16
Hamilton with identical cars as Button can easily be 3-5 tenths quicker in qualy. Who knows? He could’ve taken pole. Meh, what’s happened has happened.
Maverick232
6th October 2012, 8:48
Hehe, yep!
Ogurka
6th October 2012, 15:16
Pole was out of the question for Lewis:
AdamRHolt (@adamrholt)
6th October 2012, 21:27
F1 Star in a reasonably priced car is testament to any difference between drivers abilities (IMO).
vho (@)
7th October 2012, 17:46
@Kingshark They do have the same car, as they both drive for the same team, and there wasn’t any noticeable new parts that was on one car and not the other (like Spa). I’m presuming what you’re trying to say is that if they both had the same setup. But that can’t be a fair comparison as they both have different driving styles. Lewis prefers a slight oversteer setup and Jenson prefers a slight under steer setup. So if Lewis had the same setup as Jenson I would doubt he could run faster and vice versa.
andae23 (@andae23)
6th October 2012, 8:18
Weird that it cost him so much time. At least he’s honest about it.
Snafu (@snafu)
6th October 2012, 8:31
I’m not convinced unless I see some telemetry…
Klaas (@klaas)
6th October 2012, 8:33
Good one, +1
MahavirShah (@mahavirshah)
6th October 2012, 8:38
Really good :) !
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
6th October 2012, 8:47
@snafu Like it :-)
mixwell (@mixwell)
6th October 2012, 9:29
awesome :)
graigchq (@graigchq)
6th October 2012, 9:51
haha! This all smacks a bit too much of him almost giving up now he’s leaving at the end of the year.
Eggry (@eggry)
6th October 2012, 10:34
Brilliant haha
sumedh
6th October 2012, 14:16
Good one mate!!
Snafu (@snafu)
6th October 2012, 16:04
Thanks guys!
Jason (@jason12)
6th October 2012, 10:04
I guess Lewis must both be the Lead Engineer and Top Driver at McLaren…
He might as drive with telemetry screens in the car so he can make informed decisions.
Todfod (@todfod)
6th October 2012, 10:31
I just think that Lewis doesn’t have enough faith in his engineering team. Every wing gamble or set up direction seems to go wrong for him.
Jason (@jason12)
6th October 2012, 10:42
Must be a nightmare having to rely on a team you no longer have faith in.
Probably part of the reason why he’s leaving.
At Red Bull Newey takes care of these things.
Phil T (@)
6th October 2012, 12:36
Yawn! Maybe its not the team thats the problem, maybe LH is just pretty useless in that respect ? Alonso soon got sick of helping him set his car up, maybe Button has too.
M30
6th October 2012, 19:39
Where were you from Canada?
Eggry (@eggry)
6th October 2012, 10:32
I’d love to see HUD-equipped helmet.
Eggry (@eggry)
6th October 2012, 10:36
I still want Hamilton to win unless it’s Alonso. However with wrong setup I can’t expect him to do it. Button may be able to.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
6th October 2012, 11:49
He doesn’t have much luck when it comes to making set-up decisions, does he? Conversely Button seems to always get it right!
matt90 (@matt90)
6th October 2012, 12:21
Really? Button often can’t find the right set-up, complaining about understeer all through qualifying.
zicasso (@zicasso)
6th October 2012, 12:32
@matt90
Always?!!
lol
Eggry (@eggry)
6th October 2012, 15:49
@matt90 @zicasso I think he’s joking.
https://www.racefans.net/2012/10/05/2012-japanese-grand-prix-friday-practice-analysis/comment-page-1/#comment-1076882
canberra
6th October 2012, 17:01
these sort of races happen every year for hamilton in races vettel or alonso would dominate if they were in hamiltons seat right now. suzuka last year:
http://www.whtimes.co.uk/sport/formula-1/f1_2011_japanese_grand_prix_qualifying_hamilton_blows_chance_of_pole_1_1083702
Ed Marques (@edmarques)
6th October 2012, 19:29
Since Hamilton announced his decision the opinions about him here are simply ludicrous.
TED BELL
6th October 2012, 21:29
When does he fall out of the current information loop at McLaren…thinking about data acc being forwarded to 2013 developement?? Must be weird for eveybody involved, you want to help out the guy but he really is the enemy now for the most part
MrLovaLova
17th October 2012, 18:25
I don’t think Mercedes really need Hamilton to get information on McLaren’s 2013 car. Lest we forget, Mercedes is McLaren’s engine supplier, if they want information on their competitors car, I’m sure they could get it right ??