Hamilton blames Ferrari Q3 plan and lack of tow for disappointing Baku qualifying

News Summary

Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth and 1.332s behind George Russell
Ferrari abandoned its planned two-run Q3 programme, leaving Hamilton without a tow
Hamilton expects overtaking Mercedes to be difficult because of its straight-line advantage

Lewis Hamilton blamed a change to Ferrari’s Q3 programme and the absence of a tow after qualifying sixth for the Azerbaijan GP.

The British driver had appeared competitive during practice and produced a solid opening phase of qualifying. However, his performance deteriorated as the session progressed, leaving him 1.332s behind pole-sitter George Russell.

“It was pretty bad qualifying once again. It’s not for the lack of trying,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.

“Q1 and Q2 were pretty OK. At least Q1 was pretty decent. Q2, I struggled a little bit more. And then, as we went into Q3, they changed their plan.”

Ferrari initially intended to complete two runs during the final segment. The team instead kept Hamilton inside the garage before sending him onto the circuit ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc.

That positioning left Hamilton without another car immediately ahead on Baku’s 2.2km flat-out section, where the slipstream can provide a substantial lap-time gain.

“Instead of doing two runs, we ended up waiting,” he explained. “And then, because I was ahead of Charles, I had nobody ahead of me for the tow, so that was worth quite a chunk in itself.”

Leclerc secured second place, although he still finished 0.837s behind Russell’s dominant pole lap. Hamilton was also beaten by Oscar Piastri, Isack Hadjar and Lando Norris.

Hamilton admits Ferrari cannot match Mercedes on straights

Despite questioning Ferrari’s Q3 execution, Hamilton acknowledged that strategy alone could not explain the difference to Mercedes.

“But either way, we couldn’t compete with Mercedes,” he said. “They’re just outright so much quicker than us on the straights. They did a great job.”

The result reinforced the advantage Mercedes had displayed throughout the weekend. Russell led FP1 and FP2 before returning to the top in qualifying with a 0.837s margin—the largest pole advantage of the 2026 season.

Hamilton believes that straight-line deficit will also restrict his opportunities during the race. Baku normally provides several overtaking chances, but a lack of top speed makes attacking and defending considerably harder.

“I think it’s going to be hard to overtake Mercedes tomorrow,” Hamilton admitted. “Keeping up with the Mercedes engine on the straight will be tough, but I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”

Hamilton starts from the third row alongside Norris, who raised similar concerns after qualifying fifth and said McLaren’s straight-line speed could make a podium “impossible”.

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