Hamilton Not 'Too Hung Up' On His Qualifying Performance In 2024 So Far

Friday, 24 May 2024 at 11:22

Speaking to the media ahead of the eighth Grand Prix weekend of the season, Lewis Hamilton discussed his qualifying performance in the first third of the 2024 season.

The 2024 Monaco Grand Prix marks the third of this season, and so far, the seven-time World Champion has been well outperformed by his teammate in qualifying sessions.

In fact, the 39-year-old comes into the weekend at Circuit de Monaco with a score of 1-6 in a qualifying head-to-head battle with George Russell.

Last year, the two Mercedes drivers were probably the most closely matched teammates in terms of qualifying comparison. They ended the 2023 season with a head-to-head draw of 11-11.

Either the 25-year-old improved coming into this season, or Hamilton's Saturdays' performances start to deteriorate. Addressing the issue ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, the seven-time World Champion told the media:

"I wouldn't say it's not been a priority but the whole weekend has been the priority to improve everywhere. Particularly since the end of last year and all this year has been pretty bad on the Saturday."

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Hamilton managed to stand out on key occasions, like the wet qualifying for the Sprint race in China, where he finished in P2 and later turned the P2 start into a second-place finish for his team.

However, more often than not, the 39-year-old visibly lacked pace compared to Russell on Saturday. He acknowledged that is an area he needs to work on but also emphasized that he can often make up for bad qualifying results with his race pace.

"I will continue to work on it. So far, I haven't got it to a great place. There's plenty of races to sort it out. There's plenty of time to iron out all the creases in my performance and in the car's."