Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified seventh for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, with Mercedes team-mate George Russell one place ahead of him on the grid; Watch every session live on Sky Sports F1, with the race at 3pm on Sunday
Sunday 5 March 2023 08:51, UK
Lewis Hamilton is pinning his hopes on his car set-up coming good in Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix after feeling Mercedes made progress despite him only qualifying seventh.
The seven-time world champion was over sixth-tenths of a second behind pole-sitter and defending champion Max Verstappen, whose team-mate Sergio Perez made it an all-Red Bull front row.
Hamilton had been buoyed by the Saturday morning showing in Practice Three where he had finished fourth-fastest, but while he conceded the W14 was not at the same level in qualifying he still has reason to be optimistic going into the race.
"I woke up this morning thinking we were going to be a lot further behind, and so the fact we're even getting into Q3 was great," Hamilton said.
"We made a step forward today and the car was feeling much more alive this morning, and all of a sudden we were in a different place to where we were the day before. But then we got to qualifying and for me the car just didn't feel alive, it felt kind of average.
"The direction I've gone with my set-up, I'm hoping it will work better tomorrow because I've tried to set it up for tomorrow, but it made it a little bit difficult for qualifying.
"It's not an impossible mountain to climb, so that's a positive, and I know everyone back at the factory has been working so hard. We can definitely close the gap - we've just got to really focus and push like never before."
Toto Wolff concurred with Hamilton's assessment and believed both he and team-mate George Russell were potentially placed to qualify ahead of Fernando Alonso, who continued Aston Martin's strong showing so far in Bahrain by securing fifth on the grid.
The Mercedes team principal admitted the team's showing was below the standards they set for themselves, however.
"The gap is not ridiculous considering we only ran one tyre at the end, but it is not where we want to be," Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
"We are continuing to develop the concept and thinking we could land it and fight for pole position and that wasn't the case today.
"Lewis is absolutely in the same choir [on the car concept]. We are super critical with ourselves and what we need to achieve."
Russell will start one place ahead of Hamilton in sixth and is in no doubt the team have moved on from last year where they spent much of the year trying to overcome the issues which hampered the W13.
The 25-year-old sees a podium place as a realistic target for Sunday's grand prix, but added he feels the Red Bulls are too far ahead at the moment to compete for the win.
"It generally feels like a good car, and now we can focus on adding downforce and performance which is what the team have done for so long," Russell said. "There are definitely signs to be positive, but we've got a lot to improve.
"There's not going to be any substantial changes [for the race]. I think we've got a fight on our hands for P3; Ferrari over the last four years have always been really strong in qualifying and struggled a bit more in the race, so I'm relatively pleased to be not so far behind them.
"Fernando is probably more of a dark horse than Ferrari, he had some really good race pace in testing, so I think it's going to be a good fight for P3. It's just a shame the Red Bulls are a bit too far ahead for now."
Sky Sports F1 viewers can experience live races from inside the car of their favourite driver thanks to a stunning new innovation for the 2023 season.
Sky customers with a Sky Sports F1 subscription just need to download the Sky Sports App and log in to ride with Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc or any driver of their choice.
In addition to the 20 driver onboard streams, viewers will also be able to experience the Sky Sports 'Battle Channel', a split-screen offering focusing on a battle between up to three cars.
If you prefer to jump onboard through your TV screen, the service will also be available through Sky Q and Sky Glass.
This is in addition to the Race Control streams that have been available in previous seasons, including multi-screen, timing screen, driver tracker and onboard mix.
Sunday
8.45am: F3 Feature Race
10.15am: F2 Feature Race
1.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Bahrain GP Build-up
3pm: THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX
5pm: Chequered flag: Bahrain GP Reaction
Formula 1 is back! Watch the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Sunday's race begins at 3pm, with build-up from 1.30pm. Get Sky Sports
