Hamilton calls Azerbaijan GP “a pretty bad race” as Ferrari struggles with tyres

Summary

Hamilton finished sixth in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, two places behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.
He said the tyres failed to reach their working range through much of the weekend.
Hamilton backed Vasseur and said Ferrari’s task for the remaining races was to “keep trying”.

Lewis Hamilton described the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as “a pretty bad race” after finishing sixth for Ferrari on Saturday. Starting from the same position, he struggled to make progress as George Russell won ahead of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar.

“I didn’t really go anywhere. I couldn’t keep up with the guys ahead, and I was struggling to keep the guys behind,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. “Just lacking pace today.”

The seven-time world champion identified tyre warm-up as the problem that followed him throughout the Baku weekend. He said repeated weaving failed to bring the tyres into their working range. Towards the end of his first stint, they finally began to respond and his lap times improved, but the next set did not work for him during the final stint.

“I was just sliding around,” Hamilton said. The difficulty followed a qualifying session in which he finished sixth, while Leclerc secured a front-row start before finishing fourth in the race.

Sky Sports F1’s Craig Slater also asked Hamilton whether he remained confident in Ferrari’s direction under Fred Vasseur amid discussion of Christian Horner. Hamilton answered “Yes”. Asked what the team could do over the remaining races, he replied: “Keep trying.”

Ferrari leaves Baku second in the Constructors’ Championship, behind Mercedes. Hamilton remains third in the Drivers’ standings with 199 points.