Lewis Hamilton believes he extracted virtually everything he could from his Ferrari in Saturday's British Grand Prix qualifying, despite a deployment issue on his final Q3 run preventing him from mounting a serious challenge for pole position at Silverstone.
After stunning the paddock by claiming Sprint pole on Friday, Hamilton looked well placed to fight Mercedes once again, but ultimately had to settle for third on the grid behind team-mate Charles Leclerc and polesitter Kimi Antonelli.
Although disappointed not to repeat Friday's heroics, the seven-time world champion was encouraged by Ferrari's overall pace – and revealed a technical issue robbed him of valuable time when it mattered most.
Deployment issue Hamilton's pole hopes
Hamilton admitted there was little more he could have extracted from the lap itself, insisting the decisive factor was a loss of electrical deployment along one of Silverstone's fastest sections.
“No, not particularly,” he said when asked if he could have improved his final flyer.
“My run two [in Q3] was pretty decent, but there was a problem with the deployment and I lost like three tenths down the back straight. But that got fixed towards the end.
“I struggled more in this qualifying session with the car. A lot more understeer, but I’m still happy.”
Despite the setback, Ferrari will start Sunday's Grand Prix with both cars inside the top three, giving the Scuderia genuine reason to believe it can challenge Mercedes over race distance.
Hamilton, who is chasing a record-extending 10th British Grand Prix victory, believes teamwork could prove just as important as outright pace.
“It's definitely great to have both of us here,” he said.
“Whether or not we can fully keep up with Kimi, we will see but hopefully we can play with the strategy and work as a team to try to topple them. We will do our best for sure.”
Leclerc encouraged after rediscovering his confidence
While Hamilton reflected on what might have been, Leclerc left qualifying with renewed optimism after securing his second consecutive front-row start.
The Monegasque admitted recent races had been frustrating, but said extensive work behind the scenes has finally restored the confidence he had been missing.
“It’s been a few tough races where the feeling was not quite right, where I was struggling to put everything together,” he said.
"On the Sundays we’ve had things that have stopped us scoring points, so to be back with a good feeling, there’s been so much work behind the scenes to get back that feeling inside the car.
"But today is probably the first time where I had it back, so that is a good thing, but at the same time, I know how much I’ve struggled to be consistent recently, so it’s only the beginning but it’s a good step in the right direction.
"At the moment, I’m obviously trying to look at a bit of everything, because I was losing quite a bit of time. I just didn’t have much pace recently, so you’ve got to look at every single thing you do, whether it’s driving style, or everything really.
"We’ve worked, I think, really well, and I’m happy with that P2. I wish I was on pole but Kimi did an incredible lap and he deserves it."
With Leclerc rediscovering his rhythm and Hamilton confident Ferrari has the ingredients to challenge strategically, the Scuderia heads into Sunday's race sensing that victory is still very much within reach – even if Antonelli and Mercedes remain the benchmark.
British Grand Prix - Qualifying results
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