Lewis Hamilton is elated to have secured Mercedes’ sixth pole position of the season at the German Grand Prix after overcoming problems with the car during practice that made a front-row start seem out of the question for the British driver.
Hamilton, who was the last winner of a grand prix at the Nurburgring, was speaking in the press conference after qualifying and he made no secret of his pleasure.
“I tell you, it’s really overwhelming,” he began. “I’ve been struggling since the first run in P1, which was pretty good, P2, P3 were just disaters and it got even worse this morning. We were miles off. I was a good eight-tenths of a second off. I wasn’t comfortable with the car at all.”
However, Hamilton believes that the analysis he undertook with his team allowed him to respond in the best possible fashion by securing pole.
“We went back into the truck and we just worked hard, tried to analyse everything and made lots and lots fo changes. I just hoped that it would work and forunately the car was beneath me and I was able to put in the times we did. I’m grateful for the work the guys did with me and, again, this is just down to all the hard work the team has been putting in.”
For Hamilton, this pole takes on extra importance with the race at the Nurburgring being Mercedes’ home grand prix.
“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.”
This is Hamilton’s 29th career pole position, putting him joint-7th on the all-time list and level with five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
