• Indian Grand Prix - Qualifying

It was 'impossible' to beat Vettel to pole - Hamilton

ESPN Staff
October 27, 2012 « Webber explains aborted qualifying lap | Alonso still 100% confident he can win title »
Lewis Hamilton is hoping to be closer to Red Bull on Sunday © Sutton Images
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Lewis Hamilton admitted it was impossible for him to take the fight to Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull in qualifying at the Indian Grand Prix, but he is more optimistic about doing so in Sunday's race.

Hamilton qualified 0.261s off Vettel on Saturday and will start from third on the grid behind both Red Bulls.

"It's impossible for me to take him on at the moment unless he makes a big mistake," Hamilton told Sky Sports News. "He's a two-time world champion and very rarely makes mistakes so I just do the best I can to get myself as high as possible. Tomorrow I'm going to be pushing and hopefully we won't have any problems so we can be in the fight."

McLaren looked closer to Red Bull on race pace during Friday practice and Hamilton thinks that could enable his team to take the fight to Vettel and Mark Webber on Sunday.

"I'm quite confident in the race pace," he added. "So with strategy and depending on what we do - two- or one-stop - I think we can keep up with them. I'm going to push for that."

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