Hamilton happy to start P3 after "night and day" improvements

Generally, he would have been ousted from pole position, but given the power of Red Bull on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, at high altitude, Lewis Hamilton was delighted to have obtained the best result possible after getting third place on the grid. for the Grand Prix of Mexico Sunday. And he praised the "night and day" improvements of Mercedes that allowed him to rebound after a difficult Friday …

Hamilton, who must finish seventh or more on Sunday to conclude their fifth world championship, admitted Friday that the Silver Arrows had "a way to go," with the Briton not getting close to a second. of Max Verstappen's pace in two practice sessions, while team-mate Valtteri Bottas reported grip problems

As many people expected, Red Bull maintained dominance on Saturday. Daniel Ricciardo won the pole ahead of teammate Max Verstappen. But behind them, Hamilton was only 0.135 seconds behind the clock, a clear improvement over Friday, and he was quick to praise the work of his mechanics.

"Honestly, it's the difference between day and night," Hamilton said. "Yesterday, we really fought. The FP1 was good, but once we got to the second, it was not fun to drive, that's for sure.

"There were several different problems on the entire car, the mechanical side, the aerodynamic side, mainly the mechanical side and a little aerodynamic and a little more aesthetic.

"Considerable changes and improvements have been made overnight and we are coming back today to suddenly conflict – we did not think yesterday with this performance that we would be able to qualify on an ultra -Platform, then that would have a huge disadvantage for us tomorrow if we were to start with hyper, for example.

"As soon as we entered qualifying, I immediately realized how the car was feeling. I said to myself, "OK, we are in a much stronger position to fight for the position". I'm just glad I could do the job, improve my second run. The qualifications were very good for me.

Last year's run was reversed in the first minute when Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton, third, faced each other in the first lap, allowing Verstappen to win a memorable victory.

Hamilton then finished ninth, a result that earned him his fourth world title. Despite this first round, the Briton said he would fight to catch up on Sunday.

"You saw what happened last year with the red car behind. I do not know. It really depends on how we get by, but third place is a good place to start here, "he added.

"The guys waiting for you are well towed. Naturally, I will fight to try to win at least one position. But of course, I'm aware of the upcoming Bulls. "

And the Red Bull boss, Christian Horner, will tell his drivers to keep an eye on a Hamilton charging from the back, both inviting them to keep their noses clean at the start.

Horner said: "Synchronized timing to turn 1 and driving as wide as possible (that's what I'll tell them).

"The Ferrari and Mercedes on the race of acceleration up to turn 1 – we saw in Japan when Sebastian was behind Max, we saw Sebastian on Daniel in Austin last weekend – they are so strong in a straight line.

"It's the same with Lewis. They need to be more focused on what these guys are doing than on themselves. "