Hamilton: Baku F1 pole ‘one of the most exciting laps’ of the year

Lewis Hamilton believes that his charge to Formula 1 pole in Azerbaijan on Saturday was “one of the most exciting laps” of the season as he headed up a front-row lock-out for Mercedes.

Hamilton bounced back from a mistake on his first Q3 run to take P1 by four-tenths of a second, moving clear of Ayrton Senna to sit second on the all-time record list with 66 pole positions to his name.

Hamilton struggled throughout the Baku weekend in 2016, and despite coming under pressure to overhaul Mercedes teammate and provisional pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas, the Briton was able to charge it into a stunning final lap.

“That was one of the most exciting laps I’ve had all year,” Hamilton said in parc ferme after qualifying.

“A lot of pressure obviously. The first lap I had the time but made a mistake in the last corner. We’d been struggling to get temps in the tires.

“It was all or nothing. The lap got better and better. I knew Valtteri ahead was on good lap. I came from last corner, saying: ‘Please be enough!’ I’m ecstatic!”

Hamilton made no secret of how much the result and lap meant to him, but he is still anticipating a tough race in Baku given the challenging nature of the high-speed street circuit.

“As I said, I’m so pumped with that. That’s how qualifying should be,” Hamilton said.

“I’m so thankful to put a lap together like that.

“Tomorrow will be a long hard race but today is in the best position to start.”

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Lincoln Tech and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports announced a continuation of their long-time partnership earlier this year, and part of that partnership included a return of their mentorship program, which sees Lincoln Tech students join SPM’s team during select race weekends.

The ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway will add a new and interesting chapter to that program as the students selected happen to be twin sisters.

Jacqueline and Nathalie Mische, who are studying Automotive Technology at Lincoln Tech’s East Windsor, CT campus, will be part of James Hinchcliffe’s No. 5 Arrow Electronics Honda team during the Pocono weekend.

Jacqueline and Nathalie Mische will be part of James Hinchcliffe’s team at Pocono. Photo: IndyCar

What’s even more interesting is that Jacqueline and Nathalie previously worked in a hair salon as after graduating from beauty school. They explained that one of their Lincoln Tech instructors, Kristopher Fluckiger, put the idea of pursuing a career in the racing field in their heads.

“He was a Lincoln Tech graduate, and then he was actually a racer,” Natalie and Jacqueline said of Mr. Fluckiger in a video release by Lincoln Tech detailing their story. “When we had him for steering and suspension, he always told us about stagger and race cars. He integrated racing into everything he was teaching us.”

And the young women feel both humbled and surprised by the opportunity at hand.

“It’s still so surreal. When everyone told us that we got chosen – to be able to go, we feel honored that we get that opportunity,” Natalie revealed.

Jacqueline added, “Especially two of us from one campus, we kind of didn’t think we could (both get nominated).”

Kevin Clark, Director of Education at the East Windsor campus, spoke very highly of the Mische sisters and feels that they both earned the opportunity.

“(They) are truly deserving of this honor – being selected for the SPM Mentor program,” said Clark. “They are outstanding students with exceptional GPAs and near-perfect attendance. They are always upbeat, positive, and smiling while actively engaged in their education and helping others.”

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