Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes recovered from a difficult Friday practice by qualifying second for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with teammate Valtteri Bottas in third. The reigning champion struggled with pace but overnight Mercedes overturned an almost second deficit to line up at the sharp end.
Hamilton had been looking out of sorts and has been relatively out of form since winning the world title last season but this weekend and in qualifying, he looked back on it.
“We were struggling yesterday, we came into today and the engineers did some really great work last night to understand where we were and how we could progress forward,” he said.
“Thank you to them for their hard work. Today was a much more reasonable car.
“There were still areas where we were lacking, but it’s a work in progress, and to be that close to the Ferraris is definitely a positive.
“Sebastian did a great job today so congratulations to him. Ferrari have been so dominant in the last couple of races pace-wise, we knew they would be quick here, which they have been all weekend.
“Red Bull also looked promising, not really sure what happened to them.
“To have both me and Valtteri up there is good for the team, a good boost, to be right up there in the mix, so we’re excited for the race.
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