'Puzzled' Lewis only makes 8th
2012-07-21 18:15
WASHOUT IN THE WET: The McLarens of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton finished 7th and 8th in final qualifying ahead of the 2012 German F1 GP at Hockenheim.
HOCKENHEIM, Germany - Lewis Hamilton said he felt confused about his loss of pace in the final part of qualifying for the 2012 German F1 GP after he wound up eighth-fastest for McLaren on Saturday.
His team mate and fellow Briton Jenson Button, seventh-quickest, was less despondent; he believed they team would be aiming for podium finishes on Sunday. It was the first time this year that Button had out-paced Hamilton in qualifying.
'TOUGH RACE AHEAD'
Hamilton was fastest by six-tenths of a second in Q2 but could not find the same pace in Q3. "It does have to come together and we have to put in the laps but I was doing all right for a while... I don't understand what happened in the end.
"It was looking good until it got really wet but I don't know what happened. I was quite quick and then I don't know if the tyres went off or lost temperature. The track was drying so we should have gone faster - we didn't. Tomorrow will be a tough race and I plan to hunt down everybody in front.
"The great thing about here is that you have big DRS (drag reduction system) speed down the back so I hope we will do some big overtaking tomorrow."
Button said: "We should aim for a podium. In dry conditions, we have made some good improvements to the car aerodynamically and mechanically; it's just in the wet where we struggle with tyre temperature.
"The car feels good in the dry and I have done a lot of high-fuel running so we have a lot of information that other people don't.
"On Friday we did three long runs and today I did two long runs so I feel we are more ready to race than anybody."
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2012 German F1 weekend.
