Lewis Hamilton reveals tyre theory behind ‘disappointing’ Singapore GP qualifying

Lewis Hamilton explained his belief that losing tyre temperature in the long pit lane queue in qualifying has been costing Ferrari this season, saying “it happens every weekend.”

Hamilton qualified sixth for the Singapore Grand Prix – the first time in his career he has ever qualified outside the top five at Marina Bay – but explained that, given Ferrari’s position in most pit lanes, the team is often among the last out on track in qualifying, which is hurting their preparation.

Lewis Hamilton explains tyre theory behind ‘disappointing’ Singapore GP qualifying

Queuing in the pit lane has become a feature of qualifying weekends in Formula 1, with teams all judging similar times to be optimal to head out on track.

With drivers looking for a six or seven-second ideal gap between cars, drivers leave the pit lane one at a time and leave a few seconds before getting up to speed.

All the time spent without tyre blankets on and not getting up to speed has an impact, with those further away from the pit exit often waiting longer in the pit lane.

With that, Hamilton explained how this has been something of a feature of Ferrari’s season, saying that, by needing to work the tyre harder to get it back up to temperature after waiting in the pit lane, that comes at a cost of using some of the grip he would need over the course of a qualifying lap.

“The car’s been feeling good generally most of the weekend, just disappointed with the result,” Hamilton said after the session.

“In Q1, the car was feeling good, the tyres were feeling good, and then when we get into the next session’s queue, run one was fairly decent, but we are like the last in the queue often, and then waiting in the queue and losing a lot of temperature in the tyres.

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“Every time we do that, then we’re just falling further and further back. It happens every weekend.”

Asked if that tyre issue had been a part of Ferrari’s qualifying sessions all season, the seven-time World Champion replied: “It has, but I don’t know whether or not they [the team] see it so much.

“We’re losing so much temperature, and maybe five, six degrees, whatever it is, is still a lot of temperature, and it’s really hard to gain that back in the out-lap without using the tyre so much, which we ultimately do.

“I think the guys that are on pole, they went out quicker without, I think, less waiting in the pit lane, so I think that’s an area we can improve on, for sure.

“I think naturally, you’ve seen Red Bull had an upgrade, I think Mercedes have found something, and we haven’t, so we’re just fighting with what we have.

“Definitely, everyone’s trying so hard, but it’s definitely disappointing to finish where we have today when there was potential to potentially be higher.”

Ferrari had shown promise in free practice and the early part of qualifying, but it was ultimately George Russell who took pole position in Singapore on Saturday, starting ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri on the grid.

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