Lewis Hamilton is targeting what could be his final race win with Mercedes at the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend. Hamilton missed a shot at victory in Las Vegas last time out.
The seven-time world champion looked like a contender for pole position but made two mistakes in Q3. That left Hamilton 10th on the grid.
His aggressive comeback to second earned him the driver of the day award. But the 39-year-old felt he would have won had he put together a clean lap in the top-10 shoot-out.
Instead, it was Mercedes teammate George Russell who led the one-two. Russell is now nine points clear of Hamilton in the standings.
There’s optimism that the Silver Arrows can be fast again at the Qatar GP. The temperatures are lower than usual, which could aid a Mercedes car that prefers cold conditions.
What’s more, the Mercedes is also better suited to the smooth surface and the Lusail corner profiles. But constructors’ leaders McLaren still enter the weekend as many people’s favourites.
Lewis Hamilton became emotional as he recapped conversation with Mercedes engineer Peter Bonnington
According to Sky Sports F1 presenter Ted Kravitz, Hamilton became ‘teary’ during his media duties on Thursday. It’s just over a week until he bids farewell to Mercedes at the Abu Dhabi GP.
Hamilton lifted the lid on a conversation with engineer Peter Bonnington where it dawned on him that the end was near. He got ’emotional’ as he recounted this conversation to the press.
Bonnington has supported the Briton ever since he arrived in 2013. Together, they have won an unprecedented six world titles and 84 races.
“Lewis getting quite teary actually talking about how it’s his last two races with Mercedes,” Kravitz said on Ted’s Podbook. “He sat down with Peter Bonnington, his engineer, today and said ‘oh this is it Bono, last two together’, and actually got quite emotional when he was recounting it to the media.”
Is Lewis Hamilton already making Charles Leclerc nervous?
The Abu Dhabi weekend will be hardest of all for Hamilton and his colleagues, but both can look to the future with excitement. Mercedes are hiring a driver they believe will become a superstar in Kimi Antonelli.
Hamilton, meanwhile, could yet be joining the title holders. Ferrari are only 24 points behind McLaren before Qatar after making gains in Vegas.
Hamilton is struggling in qualifying this year, with Russell 17-5 up. But he showed last time out that he can still be formidable over a long run.
Gian Carlo Minardi believes Charles Leclerc is already nervous about his looming battle with F1’s most successful driver. It will be the biggest test yet of whether he’s champion material.
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