Lewis enjoys home comfort from pole

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team's British driver Lewis Hamilton speaks to the press as he leaves the pits during the second practice session at the Silverstone circuit in Silverstone on July 2, 2015. PHOTO: AFP

SILVERSTONE • Lewis Hamilton made it eight pole positions from nine races in his Mercedes this Formula One season when he posted the fastest qualifying time for today's British Grand Prix.

The 30-year-old Briton had struggled in practice on Friday but put those problems firmly behind him yesterday to take pole ahead of his German team-mate Nico Rosberg.

"It's a very special day for me to take pole here. The fans give me such motivation and I thank them all for their support," said Hamilton. "It's an unbelievable feeling."

The Mercedes team's success gave them a seventh front-row lockout this season, statistics that further confirm the supremacy of their Silver Arrows cars.

In a surprising last push, the two Williams cars of Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finn Valtteri Bottas took third and fourth ahead of an all-Ferrari row three that will be occupied by Finn Kimi Raikkonen and German Sebastian Vettel.

  • BRITISH GRAND PRIX GRID

  • 1st row
    Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes

    2nd row
    Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams
    Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams

    3rd row
    Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull

    4th row
    Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Red Bull
    Carlos Sainz Jr (Esp) Toro Rosso

    5th row
    Nico Huelkenberg (Ger) Force India
    Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull

    Selected
    13 Max Verstappen (Ned) Toro Rosso
    17 Fernando Alonso (Esp) McLaren
    18 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren

    AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Russian Daniil Kvyat was seventh for Red Bull ahead of Spaniard Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso, German Nico Huelkenberg of Force India and Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull.

Ricciardo was one of several drivers who suffered after having a lap deleted for running off circuit at Copse to gain an advantage.

Raikkonen also got penalised after posting a fast lap. This left the indignant Finn, who believed he was permitted two wheels on the kerb, facing an exit before the top-10 shoot-out. He squeezed through in ninth with another lap.

The travails of the McLaren team continued with their former world champions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button failing to qualify for the second session. They will start on the ninth row of the grid.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

F1 BRITISH GRAND PRIX
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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on July 05, 2015, with the headline Lewis enjoys home comfort from pole. Subscribe