Hamilton freezes Mercedes, the Sprint pole is his: “We didn’t expect it either, I’m ecstatic”

Fabulous Lewis Ferrari is in pole position at Silverstone. Of course, it is the pole position that ‘counts less’, that of the Sprint qualification, but it is still a tangible fact of how this English weekend is completely subverting expectations. There was the prediction of a Ferrari on defense, forced into the role of third or fourth force on the grid, but instead the now usual Lewis Hamilton froze the Mercedes and made the British public explode with joy, snatching first place on the grid from world championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli by a handful of thousandths. A result that stunned the seven-time world champion himself, as he himself admitted in the traditional post-qualifying Sprint interview broadcast by F1. “I love this place and this crowd – began Hamilton, unleashing even more delirium in the stands – I struggle to express how big this dream is. The car today was great, everyone in the factory is pushing so hard and every weekend we bring something new. I’m grateful for this pole, I was fast for all the sessions but I’m only 10 thousandths ahead, so we’re very close but the team deserves it very much. Do I get energy from the crowd? Yes, it’s worth at least a couple of tenths! – he joked – we’re ahead of Mercedes and Red Bull who have a lot of power, they’re doing fantastic all year but we keep pushing and I’m really proud of that.” “It won’t always be like this, but coming here we didn’t expect to be able to compete for the front row – added Hamilton – absolutely not. I’m ecstatic, it’s a fantastic surprise. Race? The pace was good, we did a mini long-run and the car gave good sensations. I don’t remember the last time I started from the front row here but it’s not easy when you have such strong opponents behind you who have more power than us”.

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-07-03 16:34:00