Hamilton bemoans sodden qualifying

Lewis Hamilton described the qualifying session for the Brazilian Grand Prix as “one of the worst I can remember.”

Anticipating a dry race at Interlagos tomorrow, McLaren opted for a set-up for such conditions rather than tackling the heavy rain that deluged the Sao Paulo circuit.

Following a red flag after Giancarlo Fisichella spun and stalled his Ferrari early in Q1, Hamilton was first on the track when it reopened, and soon set the fastest time.

However, as the session continued he slowly slipped down the timing screens and into the bottom five, even off the track at one stage.

Hamilton, who clinched the world title on this circuit a year ago, will start 18th, one place behind team-mate Heikki Kovalainen.

The McLaren star said: “The conditions were awful, but, wow, our car was terrible.

“It was a pretty poor performance from us. We couldn’t even go flat out on the straights. That’s how bad it was.

“We didn’t have a wet weather set-up, which probably contributed to it, but our car didn’t feel good at all.

“It was a disappointing performance, but we did the best we could.

“I even had a small ’off’ trying to push at the end and the car just let loose on me.

“I’m hoping the sun comes out for tomorrow so we’ll have a fighting chance of getting into the points.

“But starting 18th means your weekend is really on the back foot.”

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh summed up the situation when he said: “This was obviously disappointing for the whole team.”

Recognising an error of judgment, he added: “Perhaps we concentrated too much on anticipating a potentially dry race tomorrow.

“Consequently we didn’t give our drivers a car that enabled them to graduate past Q1.

“Clearly, this was not what we’d hoped for, but we will be doing everything we can in tomorrow’s race.

“We won’t give up, and we want to score some points tomorrow by adopting perhaps a less risk-averse strategy than we otherwise would have done from positions further up the grid.”