F1 News
Date: 6/July/2013
An ‘overwhelmed’ Lewis Hamilton completed an unlikely
turnaround to put Mercedes on pole position for its home German Grand Prix at
the Nurburgring.
After leading Friday morning practice, Hamilton had dropped
off the pace and was only seventh quickest prior to qualifying.
But on a day when team-mate Nico Rosberg was eliminated
before the final part of qualifying, Hamilton rocketed to the top by 0.103s
from reigning Champion and home hero Sebastian Vettel.
Vettel’s Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber will start third, followed
by Lotus team-mates Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.
“I tell you, it’s really overwhelming,” said Hamilton. “I’ve
been struggling since first practice, which was pretty good. Practice 2 and 3 were
just disasters - things were getting worse and we were miles off this morning.
“We went back into the truck and worked hard, tried to
analyse everything and made lots and lots of changes. I just hoped that it
would work and fortunately the car was beneath me and I was able to put in the
times we did.
“This pole position is down to all the hard work the team
has been putting in.”
Hamilton also spoke about what it means to put a ‘Silver
Arrow’ first on the grid for its home race.
“Obviously it’s a privilege to drive for this team. You know
they’ve got great history, this is where Mercedes really started and so I feel
proud to get the pole for them – but obviously there’s no points for today.
Tomorrow’s the important day.”
Turning to Red Bull drivers Vettel and Webber, Hamilton
added: “These guys are very good on their long runs. I hope that with my new
setup it will be as good and I hope we can give them a run for their money.”
Hamilton admitted that it was a shock to see team-mate and
double 2013 race winner Rosberg miss out on a place in the top ten. Rosberg,
second fastest after free practice, looked to have an excellent chance of a
home pole, but was caught out when lap times tumbled quicker than expected at
the end of Q2.
“Well, it was obviously a big surprise for all of us,” said
Hamilton. “Nico’s been quick all weekend and I anticipated that he would most
likely out-qualify me today and be up there where we are right now.
“Obviously he was only two tenths off the pace compared to
my lap and obviously the track did ramp up [get faster] and that was a real
surprise and that caught us out a bit.”
Rosberg’s only consolation is that - being outside the top
ten - he will be able to start on the harder of the two tyre compounds, while
the top six will all line-up on the softer options.
The highest placed of those on the harder compound will be
Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, in seventh and eighth respectively.
Ferrari made a strategic call to run the harder (but slower)
tyre for the final part of qualifying, ending any chance of a red car on pole,
but meaning the pair will be able to run for longer before making their first
pit stop in the race.
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