Hamilton doesn't look for excuses: 'Without damage I wouldn't have made pole'

After his missed weekend in Bahrain due to contracting the coronavirus, the question was whether Lewis Hamilton could show his best again. Even though he didn't manage to get pole, he didn't have any excuses for missing out to Max Verstappen.

Despite not being able to achieve pole position, Hamilton is happy to be able to race again. "I am happy to be back. Just grateful. Congratulations to Max, he did a great job today and I don't think it is a question of whether we drove a good lap or whether there was more to it. At the end of the day Max did the job today and we need to focus on tomorrow. As I said, I'm happy to be back and although I'm not 100%, I'm going to give it everything," Hamilton said at the FIA press conference after qualifying.

A trip over the kerbs

The session didn't start flawlessly for Hamilton either. After his first attempt in Q1, his time was deleted as he went over the limit of the track and hit the kerbs hard. "I did have some damage as a result. It's the first time I've gone wide this weekend, so it was just a bit of damage. It's not that I think I would have made pole without that damage. It doesn't help of course, but the guys did a good job in the garage to fix it and they will fix it completely tonight," concludes the Brit.