Lewis Hamilton feels he will have to put up a “hell of a fight” in the Belgian Grand Prix if he is to maintain the podium position he qualified in during Saturday’s rain-hit running at Spa-Francorchamps.
Hamilton got the wet weather he had been left hoping for after a “pretty bad” Friday of running for Mercedes and their upgraded car in Friday’s two dry practice sessions.
The seven-time world champion, one of F1’s most-renowned wet-weather specialists, duly made good use of the tricky conditions by qualifying third on Sunday’s grid behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
However, dry conditions are forecast to return for race day and with the two McLarens – who had been the quickest cars in Friday’s running – starting directly behind him, and qualifying pacesetter Max Verstappen poised to come back through the field from a penalised 11th, Hamilton suspects he will have his work cut out to stay where he is.
The four-time Belgian GP victor is though, as ever, up for the challenge amid what is proving his best run of form of the season.
“The Red Bulls are much quicker than us here and the McLarens are much quicker than us here,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
“The Ferraris, I think, are there or thereabouts with us.
“Obviously, Max is going to make his way through because I think they are the quickest this weekend.
“So holding on to the podium is going to be a hell of a fight – but I’m ready for it.”
The mixed-up results of wet qualifying appear to have set up a thrilling 44-lap race, which is live on Sky Sports F1 at 2pm on Sunday.
Verstappen absolutely dominated wet qualifying – topping the Q3 timesheet by a whopping 0.6s margin – and also looked among the front-runners in the dry on Friday, but the Red Bull championship leader will start from the sixth row owing to a 10-place penalty for the use of a fifth engine this season.
Leclerc may be on an inherited pole after an impressive final lap put him second behind Verstappen on the Q3 timesheet, but Ferrari had again not looked anywhere near as competitive in Friday’s dry conditions.
