Lewis Hamilton has admitted to “struggling a lot” in the lead up to qualifying for the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton lines up second on the grid, behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas, having missed out on pole-position by just 0.023 seconds. But the reigning champion says he wasn’t sure where he would end up after struggling with car balance throughout the weekend so far.
“Fantastic job from the team, I’m really happy for us to lock out the front row,” said Hamilton. “Valtteri did a great job, he was a bit quicker but I was happy to get a decent couple of laps.
“I didn’t know where we would be, but in the end we’ve shown a strong performance.
“I’ve struggled a lot this weekend up until Qualifying, I was battling with the balance, so I’m really happy with the direction it went for Qualifying; it was a bit late, but better late than never.”
Hamilton comes to China trailing Bottas in the world championship by a single point and vows to put himself in “the best position to be able to fight” for victory in Formula 1’s 1000th world championship race.
“I’ll try and pull a good start out tomorrow; tyre management and strategy will also be important.
“This is not a bad track to overtake, so it should be an interesting race. I’m sure there will be a few opportunities tomorrow and I will try to put myself in the best position to be able to fight.”
