Mercedes have ‘chance of being up there’ if sprint race is wet – Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton says that Mercedes ‘have chance of being up there’ in the Shanghai sprint race if conditions are wet again on Saturday.

While George Russell was eliminated in the other Mercedes in SQ2, which was largely dry, Hamilton appeared to cope with the wet conditions during SQ3 better than many of his rivals. He admitted that he had hoped that it would rain, expecting it would offer more opportunities for him.

“It was very tricky conditions,” Hamilton told the official F1 channel. “Not a lot of grip, as you saw, for everyone. But [I’m] so happy.

“As soon as I saw the rain coming I was getting excited, because naturally in dry conditions we’re not quick enough. So when the rain came, I kind of thought that I would have a bit of a better opportunity and then that’s when it kind of came alive.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff praised Hamilton’s performance, explaining that the team had chosen to bring him in during the session for a fresh set of intermediate tyres.

“I think obviously the driving is most important in the wet,” Wolff told Sky. “But I think it shows it’s about tyre preparation.

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“We did the right thing on the final run, the tyres were in the sweet spot, combined with a great drive, that paid the time.

“We changed a little bit the ‘specs’ of the tyres, let’s call it like this, later on a bit with the pressures. But the point is that you saw George, both cars, not competitive in Q2 because the tyres never gripped.”

However Hamilton does not expect to be able to challenge for victory in tomorrow’s sprint race if it is dry.

“It really depends what the conditions will be,” he said. “If it’s like that, then maybe we’ll have a chance of being somewhere up there. I think if it’s dry, then naturally the Ferraris and the Red Bulls will come by and maybe we can hold off some of the others.”

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