• British Grand Prix - Qualifying

Hamilton struggles with tyre temperatures

Lewis Hamilton: "Mine were very cool whereas Fernando's were very warm" © Press Association

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• Race:
• British Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Lewis Hamilton

• Teams:
• McLaren

After qualifying eighth for the British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton said the biggest problem he faced was getting heat into the intermediate tyres.

Hamilton looked quick on the full wet tyres but when the conditions improved in Q3 and intermediates were called for, he ended up 1.8s off Fernando Alonso's pace at the front of the grid. In parc ferme he felt the tyre temperatures of his rivals' car and said after qualifying that his were noticeably cooler.

"For some reason the extremes [full wet tyres] worked really well and we got enough temperature into them, but then when we put on the intermediates ... it doesn't feel so bad as your exiting the pit lane, but once you get round to turn three already you feel like you are starting to lose temperature in them. And there not generating much grip, that was our biggest problem.

"Sometimes you are overheating the tyres and sometimes you're not getting enough heat into them and I couldn't get enough heat into mine. Mine were very cool whereas Fernando's were very warm - a big difference."

Hamilton said he would face a difficult race on Sunday whatever the weather.

"I think either way it's going to be tough for us tomorrow," he added. "But we are going to be fighting as always tomorrow to try and get up as high as possible. Jenson has shown in the past that coming from right at the back is possible and Fernando showed in the last race that coming from quite far back it's possible, but those guys [Ferrari] are still very quick as well. We just have to do the best job and see what happens."

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