Hamilton sees why McLaren are ahead: ‘They went down the Red Bull route’

Lewis Hamilton finished in P7 in qualifying, as Mercedes were not a contender for Pole Position at Suzuka. Hamilton thinks the car struggles with its balance, and was not satisfied with his result on Saturday, nor with how the balance of the car has been developed.

"Yesterday was a bad day. Each weekend we have at least one bad day out of the three. The balance didn’t feel great yesterday. We made some changes and the car has felt really nice today. It’s been nice to drive, and I feel much more confident," Lewis Hamilton told Sky Sports after qualifying.

'Issues are because of the concept'

"I gave it everything. The seven-tenths deficit in sector one, is all the rear end. Our car has loads of load at the front, and not as much as we need at the rear. That’s clearly concept. 100% clear. We have to make sure we change that for next year," Hamilton continued.

The Briton also said this is the reason why Mercedes are failing to catch up to Red Bull, while McLaren were the second fastest car on the grid after qualifying in Japan. "You saw what Aston Martin did coming into this year, so they can make big steps. You saw what McLaren have done this year by going down the Red Bull route, they are now ahead of us on a track like this. I’m happy with my laps, just weren’t as quick as the others."