Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport‘s Lewis Hamilton took pole position in front of his home-crowd in today’s qualifying for the 2018 British Grand Prix.
It was a record breaking sixth pole position for Hamilton, but it was far from easy for the Brit. Scuderia Ferrari‘s Sebastian Vettel pushed him to his limits throughout the sessions, in the end being forced to settle for second position, with Hamilton going fastest by a narrow margin of 0.044 seconds.
Hamilton admitted that his pole lap had been mentally and physically demanding, dubbing it the ‘toughest lap I’ve ever had to do in a qualifying session.‘ He attributed some of his ability to extract the absolute maximum to the British crowd cheering him on. Tomorrow, he will attempt to take a record breaking sixth win at the circuit. If he does so he will move ahead of Alain Prost and Jim Clark in the table for most wins at the British Grand Prix, with all three men currently having five wins.
“That lap took everything out of me,” he commented.
“I had to go over the limit to get that time out of the car and I could have easily not pulled that lap together, so I’m thankful that I was able to do it. I knew that the fans were right there with me; every time I go out I see them cheering. The support I get at this track is phenomenal; it means the world to me and it really lifts me up.
“The start and the tyre management will be key for the race; I’m going to see my guys tonight and tell them to keep pushing so that we’re as good as we can get tomorrow.”
