Lewis Hamilton was emotional after his Silverstone pole today, managing to just edge out Vettel in Q3 to take the advantage going into race day tomorrow.
In the on-track interview, a teary eyed Hamilton was thankful for the support of the home fans, who cheered him on when the pressure was at its peak.
Hamilton admitted that the support from the crowd helped instil in him that much needed belief while going for his final lap in qualifying.
“It was the toughest lap I’ve had to do,” Hamilton said as quoted by Sky Sports
“The pressure was beyond anything I’ve experienced before and I think the desire to pull it out, knowing that deep within me I’ve got it, but to absolutely extract it and pull it out of the car was harder than any other qualifying session I’ve experienced.” he added.
Hamilton praised Ferrari for how strong they came at Mercedes during Q3. He was also extremely thankful for the support of the crowd.
“These guys [Ferrari] really pulled something special out of the bag in Q3. I don’t know what they did yesterday, but they’ve come so strong today.
I knew we were up against it and to put together the laps was the hardest I can remember it being. It’s such a technical, tricky circuit and to position the car in the right places and maximise the tyres, it took everything from me to get it.
“The fans were there, I could see them so I really, really wanted with the pole to give a boost to England. Huge amount of pressure on today but so grateful for my team working so hard.
“I was shaking through the emotion and the adrenaline rush. It was way above the limit that I’d experienced before, which is kind of crazy when it’s my 76th. But my 76th is so special and I’m so, so happy.” he said.
However, Hamilton wasn’t quite thrilled with the newly laid out surface at Silverstone, as it felt it was a little too bumpy.
He actually went onto say that whoever did the relaying job did the worst job ever.
“I always think countries seem to waste money when they resurface the tracks. They wasted money which they could have gone to better use. And, two, the people they hired did the worst job ever.
“I mean, it’s the bumpiest track I’ve ever experienced, it’s bumpier than the Nordschleiffe, which is 100 years old. It’s rattling your freakin’ eyeballs from your brain — you can’t see where you’re going.”
“In the straights and some of the corners but it’s so insane how bumpy it is. It’s so quick its like duh-duh-duh-duh. I said to the team “I’m not going to talk on the radio because people I’m taking something or just take the mic, you know?. Apart from that it’s fantastic but jeez, they need to hire someone better, because I don’t know how you could make such a bad job in layering the track.” Hamilton concluded.
Hamilton and Vettel will be starting on the front row tomorrow and with DRS activated through turn 1, you can expect an exciting start to raceday tomorrow.
