Hamilton: Like driving on ice

Editor 21 Jul 2012 2:42 PM

Lewis Hamilton admits McLaren were caught out by the improving conditions as they led the field in Saturday’s final qualifying segment in Germany…

Lewis Hamilton admits McLaren were caught out by the improving conditions as they led the field in Saturday’s final qualifying segment in Germany.

Heading out first in a very wet Q3 at Hockenheim, Hamilton and his team-mate Jenson Button were the first to put in lap times at the start and were again the first to record times at the very end.

However, as the seconds ticked by and the drivers cut through the water, the conditions improved marginally meaning those at the end of the train set the better times.

As such, Hamilton only managed the eighth best time although he will line-up P7 due to Mark Webber’s grid penalty.

“We did our last laps first and then the track got better and better and I guess the other guys were able to post quicker times after that,” the McLaren driver told the BBC.

“The track was drying so we would have got better if we had one more lap, but it was like driving on ice for us.”