Hamilton qualified for the P7 for teammate George Russell in the P5, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took the pole position, with no team other than Red Bull being able to reach the Monegasque driver within a second. As a result, the Briton gave a strict assessment of his team’s position in Baku.
READ MORE: Leclerc falls to Baku pole as Perez accompanies him to the front row of the Azerbaijani Grand Prix qualifiers
“We are not even competing with these guys up front, they are in a completely different league,” said Hamilton. “Well, it looks like these guys are miles ahead, and then there’s this package we’re in. I do not think [today was] damage reduction. “I guess you could say George is pole and I’m third and that’s the real fight.”
Russell has finished fifth or best in every 2022 race so far
As for Russell, the 24-year-old could well continue on Sunday the finish line in the top five from 2022 and characterized his performance in the qualifiers as a consolation in a difficult day for the Silver Arrows.
“It’s not easy to control. We are doing everything we can to get more information and take some steps forward, but apparently it is a little more difficult at the moment than we would like. But we work as hard as we can to overcome it and find more performance.
“Well, when we talk about today, the P5, this is the maximum, so it’s insignificant.”
DATA AND STATISTICS: Leclerc is the first to grab many poles in Baku, overshadowing Verstappen’s P1 rating
Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari and Red Bull are “in a different league” in Baku
As for the Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff, the Austrian admitted that the examination of the data after the qualification had led to a painful reading.
READ MORE: “I just want to finish the job” – Leclerc finally wants to capitalize on pole in Azerbaijan
“I think the position was to wait for the third fastest on the road,” said Wolff, whose two drivers split from Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri. “So in terms of position [it’s as expected] but the gap is large. The gap is big, it’s been a long time and we miss it almost everywhere, so I hope I do not have to look like that [data] overlaps in the future now “.
