Lewis Hamilton “scared” himself with qualifying woes

Lewis Hamilton’s difficulties in qualifying “scared” him, it has been claimed.

Hamilton has been on the back foot on Saturdays compared to Mercedes teammate George Russell for most of this season.

But in Singapore, Hamilton out-qualified Russell for just the fifth time this year to line up third on the starting grid.

“He has struggled - and been open with his struggles - in qualifying with this generation of car,” Tom Clarkson said on the F1 Nation podcast.

Lawrence Barretto, who spoke to Hamilton post-qualifying, replied: “He gave the longest answers he’s given in a long time!

“He wanted to explain why it was so good, how they turned it around, to give credit to the team.

“He’s been tough on himself from a qualifying perspective. Not really understanding, I think that scared him a little bit, not understanding why he couldn’t do the thing that has made him so famous all these years. Which is nailing down qualifying and putting himself in great shape.

“He said that he felt connected with the car, which was interesting. And pumped for the race. Which made me think, even if he didn’t say it publically, he thought he could take the fight forward.

“To then essentially fall backwards, or not fend off Ferrari, would have been tough to take.”

Hamilton’s Singapore Grand Prix largely fell apart due to a decision to start with soft tyres, in contrast to the rivals around him who ran mediums.

Mercedes have since admitted that his decision - which Hamilton complained about during the race via team radio - was a mistake.

Clarkson said: “When we saw the tyre blankets come off… he used soft tyres!

“He was the only one of the top 10 to run the soft tyre. I couldn’t work it out.”

Barretto replied: “Lewis was confident of his own ability to make the most of a great starting slot. He’s been in the top five for the past 15 Singapore Grands Prix.”

Journalist Sam Power from Australia’s Channel 10 suggested: “He was on the clean side, with the soft tyre. Max Verstappen was on the dirty side. Do you give yourself more chance? Track position is usually more critical here.”

But Clarkson said: “It’s only 170m to Turn 1! It’s a really short run.

“If he started on the medium, he wouldn’t have been beaten by Charles Leclerc.

“But is it all-or-nothing? Whether he finishes fifth or sixth he doesn’t care, it’s all about getting on the podium.”

Hamilton ultimately finished sixth, with Russell fourth, failing to take advantage of his hugely positive qualifying.