Lewis Hamilton: “It was really like driving on ice…”

Lewis Hamilton was frustrated to qualify only eighth in Hockenheim after being fastest in Q2 as once again McLaren had a difficult Saturday.

The team lost performance in the switch from intermediate to extreme wet tyres between the two sessions. Hamilton ended up just behind team mate Jenson Button, although both men gain a spot from Mark Webber’s penalty.

“It is a bit of a mystery for us, and I think we’re trying to understand these tyres,” said Hamilton. “At Silverstone the extreme worked really well for us, and we couldn’t work the intermediate. And then this weekend the intermediate was working really well and when we got into the extreme in Q3 for some reason it wasn’t getting any faster, and it was really like driving on ice. Jenson was saying the same thing, we were just sliding.

“You’d go into Turn One and the whole car was just drifting, so [we were] just not working the tyres, keeping the temperature. We asked the engineers and they said the temperatures just drop and we struggle to maintain the temperatures in them. It’s something we need to continue working at, but obviously it doesn’t put us in the best position in Q3. But the car is better.”

Asked to elaborate on how the latest update package has improved the car, Hamilton was optimistic that the race would show the benefits.

“We’ve picked up a little bit of grip, so when we’re driving in the dry the rear end feels a little bit stronger this weekend. But to what extent and how much quicker it is I don’t know, because we haven’t back-to-backed it. But it think tomorrow will be a good test for us. If we’re stronger throughout tomorrow then that should be the main reason.”