How Hamilton "tipped it over the edge" with a setup change too far in Singapore GP qualifying

Ferrari will be pondering whether both its cars should have been on the front row for the Singapore Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton set an impressive pace through the opening segments of qualifying and team-mate Charles Leclerc said "I think the car had potential for pole".

But ultimately Leclerc came up 0.054s short of beating Max Verstappen's Red Bull to pole, with Hamilton a further 0.069s off. Small margins, but both drivers felt they could have done better.

Formula 1F1 Singapore GP: Max Verstappen overcomes Ferrari challenge for pole

Hamilton set the pace in Q1, where he finished 0.345s up on Leclerc, and in Q2, where he became the first driver to set a lap below the 1m32s mark in Singapore this year. In that session he was 0.110s faster than second-placed Verstappen.

But Lewis then made a front-wing change, adding a little more angle on the front-right flap, which fundamentally altered the balance of the car in an unexpected way. Although he then went faster in Q3, it was only a marginal improvement and both Leclerc and Verstappen found more. Some of this can be accounted for through track evolution as the session neared its end.

"I think it's just balance," said Hamilton afterwards.

"The car felt good. My team, the engineers, did a fantastic job as well as the mechanics between the sessions.

"I think the car felt amazing in Q1 and Q2. And when I finished the laps, I was like, 'She's got more in her.'

"The only way to try and extract that is to try and add wing. And in doing so, I think it just tipped it over the edge.

"It was only one hole [of adjustment] or something like that. But it's like it was on the knife-edge. And after that, then the car was just snappy and none of the laps in Q3 were any good.

"So I'm grateful to be third, to be honest, given that those laps weren't very good."

The Ferraris qualified second and third, but felt they could have done better

Photo by: Anni Graf - Formula 1 via Getty Images

The theory that the setup change had made the Ferrari a little too 'on those nose' was bolstered by Hamilton having to correct huge snaps of oversteer at Turn 3 on both his Q3 laps, then having to saw at the steering wheel through the final chicane.

"There's a real fine line with our car where it's over the edge or under the limit and finding that sweet spot is very, very difficult," said Hamilton.

"I probably had it in the first two, but you have to look for the progress of the track, the grip coming up. So you have to kind of react to that in hindsight."

Track evolution is always a factor at street circuits such as Singapore, which aren't used for racing through the rest of the year. The surface offers more grip as more rubber is laid down through each session, which can lead teams and drivers down the wrong setup route since it can be difficult to distinguish how much improvement is coming through setup, and how much is simply the track being more grippy.

Leclerc explained that he simply struggled to put a clean lap together until right at the end.

"I did some mistakes," he said.

"And I think there was a potential to be on pole today, but Max just did a better job."

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

- The Motorsport.com Team