Korean GP: Lewis Hamilton still hopeful of beating Sebastian Vettel
Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes still has a hope of beating Sebastian Vettel in the Korea Grand Prix despite losing the fight for pole position
Qualifying has been Mercedes' strong point during the 2013 Formula 1 season, with the team taking pole eight times from 14 qualifying sessions so far, but only winning on three occasions.
But Hamilton believes Mercedes' race pace at Yeongam is strong enough to give him a shot at Vettel's Red Bull, provided he can get past it.
"I will push as hard as I can to get past Sebastian," he said.
"Hopefully the long-run pace is not so bad so I hope it is the case tomorrow.
"I am happy that the car is as competitive as it is, and the guys have done a good job to get us up this high.
"I am happy with the performance this weekend and there is more to come.
"From past experience it is very difficult to overtake here, but I anticipate I am going to need to try."
Despite ultimately taking pole by 0.218 seconds, Vettel said Mercedes remained a threat and that his pole lap had needed to be particularly strong.
"I think it was a fairly close one," he said.
"I had a very, very good lap in Q3 on my first attempt.
"As expected Mercedes was very strong, they look comfortable in the middle sector.
"We've got the balance right this weekend, and we improved the car from yesterday. I was not entirely happy after final practice yesterday."
Share Or Save This Story
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Jon Noble: An unfair perception or a genuine concern? Lifting the lid on Red Bull’s Tsunoda scepticism
Why "awesome" Canadian GP has convinced Hamilton he's "probably better without" Ferrari simulator
Hamilton’s sim-less approach seems to pay off as he outqualifies Leclerc twice at Canadian GP
Why some F1 team bosses think drivers shouldn't have a say in the rules
‘Being able to write my sprint notes by hand was a good sign’ says Marquez
Marco Bezzecchi says Mugello sprint was “gone” after Turn 1 error
Bagnaia pours cold water on Ezpeleta's safety proposals
The changing fortunes of F1's drivers with a point to prove
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments