Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he suffered an engine problem during Q3, which affected his pace amid a fight for pole position in Mexico.
Hamilton finished the session in third place and is set to start Sunday’s grand prix on the second row of the grid behind polesitter Max Verstappen and teammate George Russell.
Mercedes has struggled to maintain pace throughout the 2022 campaign, with Hamilton yet to take pole position or victory this year.
However, the seven-time world champion says it was a positive session for the team, despite having a problem on his side of the garage.
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“Overall it was a very good qualifying session,” said Hamilton.
“We had some issues towards the end with the engine in Q3, so I think there was definitely a bit of performance left on the table, unfortunately, but I did my best.
“Losing that first lap definitely made the last lap very, very difficult. I had to be very reserved on that last lap just to make sure I was clean, because I was down a tenth at that point.
“Unfortunately I couldn’t push as hard as I would have liked, but I think this is a great result, second and third.
“It’s not a bad position to start with and hopefully we can fix the engine problem for tomorrow.”
Expanding on the topic, Hamilton said: “It started showing up in Q2 and then it was every race in Q3.
“I was basically running out of power on corner exits, so I definitely think we were losing quite a bit of time in the last corner and most of the corners.
“I’m not really sure what was going on, but it felt like an ignition issue. But I’ll find out from the team.”
Russell has suggested that Mercedes will be able to contend for victory in Sunday’s race against Red Bull, having shown great pace throughout the grand prix weekend.
Hamilton has claimed he will give it his all as he looks to end his winless streak.
“Naturally it’s always a tough race around here, with the track and tire temperatures, but these guys [Red Bull] they’ve been fast all year,” he said.
“Even when we’re at our best this weekend, we’re still losing straight-line speed, so it’s definitely going to be tough to get through tomorrow.
“But we will do the best we can. Turn 1 is an opportunity, so we will take advantage of it.”
Keyword: Hamilton reveals F1 engine problem amid Mexico pole fight
