LEWIS HAMILTON was knocked out before Q3 for the fifth time this season after a tyre blunder by Ferrari.
The seven-time world champion appeared to have been left frustrated by his team’s choice not to put on medium tyres ahead of his flying lap in Q2.
GettyLewis Hamilton was knocked out of Q2 after a Ferrari tyre blunder[/caption]
GettyHamilton described the result as ‘tough’[/caption]
Ahead of qualifying Hamilton looked as though he could fight for pole position, having notched some of the fastest times in the practise sessions.
When Hamilton was turfed out the top ten he then did not have enough fuel to go for another flying lap and finished in 12th.
He said: “I’m obviously so disappointed. Yesterday the car was feeling good, today there was a direction that we ended up going, which on paper looked like it was the best place for us to be.
“Our pace had been good. We’d been progressing, I was feeling really on it, didn’t make any mistakes, didn’t see me down any exit roads. It was just that we didn’t have the right tyre on at the end.
“It’s tough. Everyone ahead of me basically had the medium tyre on, but I lost a medium tyre in P2 due to run-plan schedule, and that put me on the back foot.”
When asked about coming in for a hot pit stop like Leclerc did, he added: “Yeah, but the choice wasn’t taken to take it.
“I wanted to but they said that the warm-up was too long or something like that, so then we run out of time and run out of fuel. Not great, but we’ll take it internal.
“As I said, there’s been lots of positives from this weekend. I’ve really felt on it. I honestly thought I was going to be shooting for pole today, so it’s kind of a bit of a shock.
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“I’ll take it on the chin and keep trying.”
It was a disastrous afternoon for Ferrari in general with Charles Leclerc binning it into the barriers in the final session.
The Monegasque driver was so angry that he got out of the car and threw his gloves to the floor in frustration before a red flag was brought out.
Leclerc had locked up and failed to make the corner at Turn 15 at the Baku City Circuit, where he came second last year.
