The Mercedes driver had a good chance of competing in Sochi, but in the final stage of the time trial twice he stumbled against the wall in his car, and at the decisive moment, he could not run a good lap with the smooth tread tires on the constantly drying track.
Lando Norris thus got the start in front of Carlos Sainz and George Russell, while Hamilton can only start from the 4th cube tomorrow.
The seven-time world champion told Sky Sports F1 television after qualifying he was very disappointed in himself.
“I was basically incredibly disappointed in myself,” the world champion defending champion said after the time trial.
“Until then, I was in very good shape, I was really in that particular zone. I’m so sorry for the whole team because that’s obviously not what one would expect from a champion. But that’s it, I’ll do my best on Sunday to fix it. ”
Hamilton added, the grip was “awful” during the timer with the slick tires.
“I lost the temperature during the round and went to the wall twice, which is rare for me.”
Mercedes for the race anyway you can replace damaged parts in your Hamilton car with impunity, provided they have the same specifications as those used on the timer.
The British, however, know it won’t be an easy thing to do if he wants to fight for victory on Sunday.
“The guys at the forefront have a good pace and it’s definitely not going to be easy,” said Hamilton, a candidate for the world title.
“I will be praying for the car to be repaired and hopefully it will be okay tomorrow. Things like this happen to put us to the test, and I feel awful right now. But I’m going to translate all of this into positivity and give it my all. But at least there’s another British in the pole, which is great, so congratulations to Lando. ”
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