Lewis Hamilton was “playing for pole” in Dutch Grand Prix qualifying and was quicker than Max Verstappen before aborting his lap when Sergio Perez spun, reckons Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff.
The seven-time world champion has not scored a pole position – nor qualified within the top three – yet this season as Mercedes has lagged behind Red Bull and Ferrari in the new era of technical regulations, particularly in qualifying.
At Zandvoort, the W13 is more competitive and Hamilton was particularly quick in qualifying.
Hamilton’s final flying lap was slightly slower than Verstappen’s pole lap in the first and second sectors at Zandvoort but Mercedes’ live delta suggested he had moved a tenth ahead with a faster run through the tight Turn 11 and 12 sequence.
Limited public data available makes it tricky to conclusively state there really was the necessary swing of around two tenths at the start of the final sector to confirm Wolff’s claim.
But Hamilton did set the fastest mini-sector for that part of the track before having to back off for yellow flags caused by Perez’s Red Bull, which was facing the wrong way on the inside of the final corner.
“On our on-car data, and we looked at it a lot, we were a tenth up before the incident,” said Wolff.
“Now, you don’t know how we would have come out of it, but I think we were definitely playing for pole position and that’s a good feeling when you want more.
“We could have been there or thereabouts.”
Hamilton’s lap from the first runs ended up good enough for fourth, 0.306s slower than Verstappen.
He himself felt that suggesting he could have got pole “would be highly optimistic” but did believe the front row was realistic.
Hamilton was a couple of tenths quicker than his previous best but as only 0.092s covered Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, he would have needed to gain further time in the final corner to lift himself above the Ferraris.
That he was even in the mix marks a major step forward compared to last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, and is closer to the form Mercedes showed in Hungary – where George Russell scored its only pole position of the season.
“I’m much happier coming into this weekend, to have a car that’s potentially fighting for a front row,” said Hamilton.
“But I just don’t understand, one weekend it can be so far off and now, the next weekend, all of a sudden, we’re right there. It’s confusing for sure.
“But lots of positives to take. I think if we hadn’t had the yellow flag, we’d have hopefully been fighting for the front row. So, that’s really positive.
“Normally we close the deficit we have on a single lap. If that can then reflect our race pace, that would be awesome.”
Mercedes developed its car to run at a lower ride height than it has often been able to use this season.
This is likely to be one of the issues that held it back at Spa last weekend although Hamilton suggested there were lessons that Mercedes could apply if the Belgian GP could be run again.
Hamilton said: “The engineers have a much better understanding of why it didn’t work in the last one, and why it works here.
“It’s to do with aero curvatures and all sorts, I don’t know why we didn’t see it going into the last race, because there are things we could have done differently and it could have been a little bit better at least.
“But just generally, this type of track works much better with the ride height and all sorts.”
While the car can be run lower at Zandvoort Wolff said there was still a need to “take compromises in your set-up that screws you up in either the high-speed or the low-speed, so you’re never in the sweet spot with the car where it operates over all the whole lap”.
He said Mercedes has been weak in the high-speed Turn 7 in particular.
So there remains a degree of confusion within the Mercedes camp, which Wolff jokingly brushed off by saying: “I’d rather be confused and quick than slow and clear.”
And Hamilton said the car is so capricious it is like it is displaying human traits.
“There’s hope the potential is there, but I have no idea whether the car is going to be good or bad in the next races,” Hamilton said.
“You just have to see when you come.
“It’s like a mood swing. It’s like a human, the characteristics of a human being.
“You don’t know which side of the bed it’s going to get out of.”
