Lewis Hamilton has delivered his reaction to Mercedes' challenging qualifying session at Imola and what appeared to be a heated discussion with team boss Toto Wolff. Both Hamilton and teammate George Russell dropped out in the Q2 phase after Wolff stressed the severity of the W13's porpoising issues, which has left the car "undriveable" . It marks the first time since the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix that a Mercedes has failed to make it into the final part of qualifying.
Mercedes "underperformed" during Imola qualifying
Offering his reaction after the session, Hamilton cut a downbeat figure. "It wasn't a great session. Naturally, it's disappointing," said Hamilton, who will start Saturday's Sprint race in 13th, two places behind Russell. "[I've] come here with optimism. Everyone's working really hard at the factory, and then things just don't come together. "I think we underperformed as a team today. There are things that we should have done, we didn't do and anyways... "We'll work as hard as we can to move up in the Sprint race. It's going to be a difficult race, but hopefully tomorrow is better weather-wise. "Who knows? Maybe we can move our way forwards."
What happened between Hamilton and Wolff?
Having only made it out of Q1 by 0.004s, Hamilton got an early lap on the board in Q2 before red flags and increasing rain prevented any improvements. Television coverage picked up what appeared to be a heated debrief between Hamilton and Wolff, before the seven-time World Champion headed to the back of the Mercedes garage. "It's all internal stuff. I'd rather not share that," Hamilton said, when asked for further details. "We'll just keep working. It is what it is." Put to him that the Sprint format offers himself and Mercedes a chance "to try and rescue something" from the event, Hamilton said: "Yeah, we'll just keep working hard, and each weekend is a rescue, so..."
Most read
