Lewis Hamilton said he is “hunting and chasing” Mercedes as he eyes the first podium of his Ferrari career at Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Kimi Antonelli will line up from the front of the grid in Shanghai after he broke an 18-year-old record to become the youngest pole-sitter in Formula One history.
Antonelli – who is 19 years and 201 days old – capitalised on team-mate George Russell’s mechanical gremlins to eclipse Sebastian Vettel’s long-standing benchmark by nearly two years.
Russell recovered to take second, with Hamilton one place behind in third as he equalled his best qualifying performance for Ferrari.
In the earlier sprint race, Hamilton and Russell traded the lead on six occasions, and, although the seven-time world champion had to settle for third, it has been an encouraging start to his second campaign in red.
Hamilton ended last season without a podium for the first time in his career – and at one stage he was so disillusioned he even called for Ferrari to replace him – but he finished fourth a week ago in Australia, and will be intent on going one better on Sunday to record a first top-three finish in 477 days.
“We’re hunting, we’re chasing, and I know everyone is geared up to just do everything they can to close that gap to Mercedes,” said Hamilton.
“It’s highly unlikely that we will be able to beat them in the race. Our statistics show they are between four and six tenths faster than us.
“But maybe with strategy, maybe something can happen, maybe with the start, maybe there’s a way. I definitely need to make sure I don’t kill my tyres trying to either keep up with them or keep one behind. I need to drive better tomorrow.”
Hamilton was referencing the earlier sprint session where he rocketed from fourth to first by the end of the opening lap but could not stop Russell from winning as the Mercedes man extended his championship advantage to 11 points.
Russell headed into qualifying as the man to beat but he first reported problems in Q2.
“Something is not right with the car,” he said. “I’ve got major understeer. It is like the front wing is broken. Check the car.”
Mercedes started their investigation as soon as Russell returned to the pits but, just moments into Q3, he had stopped on track.
“It looks all right,” Russell was told by his race engineer, Marcus Dudley. “It isn’t,” Russell responded.
Russell managed to get going but the note of his engine indicated that the problem could be terminal.
“I can’t shift through the gears,” said Russell as he crawled back to his garage.
Inside the Mercedes garage, team principal Toto Wolff shook his head. Russell eventually emerged with a little more than two minutes remaining, but he could not match team-mate Antonelli’s lap with the Italian teenager 0.222 seconds clear.
“It was definitely damage limitation,” said Russell. “In Q2 the front wing broke. We were wrapping our heads around that. Then obviously I went out in Q3, stopped on track, and the car wasn’t restarting, and I couldn’t change gear.
“I started my only lap with no battery, no tyre temperature, no nothing. It could have been much worse, so I am very glad to be second on the grid.”
