Lewis Hamilton voiced his frustration after a disappointing sprint qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix, admitting that his Ferrari felt like a "completely different car" following minor set-up adjustments between practice and qualifying.
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion could only manage seventh place, half a second behind teammate Charles Leclerc, who put the other Ferrari third on the grid. This came after Hamilton showed encouraging pace in the sole practice session at Zandvoort.
"Not a good session, unfortunately," Hamilton said. "FP1 felt good. We made subtle adjustments to the car, but when we got into qualifying it was a completely different car, so we need to figure out what went wrong. We'll look at the data and make a determination."
Hamilton also revealed that his tyre preparation for the decisive SQ3 run was compromised after encountering Gabriel Bortoleto on his warm-up lap. Meanwhile, Leclerc was delighted with his performance, calling it his "best qualifying lap" of the season and a step in the right direction.
The result extends Hamilton's championship deficit to Andrea Kimi Antonelli to 50 points. George Russell will start the sprint race from pole, with Antonelli fifth. Hamilton will need a strong recovery in Saturday's 24-lap sprint to limit the damage.
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