The fight for the championship allows no relaxation. Certainly not on home ground, as Lewis Hamilton notices this weekend at Silverstone. The Briton found a worthy opponent in Sebastian Vettel. Leading in FP1 and FP3 (Vettel was ahead in FP2), the Mercedes driver had been dominated in Q1… before speeding up in Q2, clocking a time of 1:26.256, a solid tenth ahead of the Ferrari.<\/p>\n
It was just a stage before Q3, with both drivers breaking the 1:25 barrier. The moment was seized by Lewis Hamilton to assert his dominance, in the first… and the second run. The threat was real, with the provisional best time taken by Vettel. Hamilton delivered his effort in the final lap. At the finish, a slim margin: 44 thousandths, a symbolic number for the Englishman, who describes his emotions onboard his Mercedes:<\/p>\n
\u00ab It was the most difficult lap I’ve ever had to do! The pressure was beyond what I had experienced before in my career. I had never had such a desire to extract the smallest possible tenth \u00bb, he said while comparing this pole to his previous five acquired on this track.<\/p>\n
\u00ab These guys (ed. note: Vettel and R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen<\/i>) had already put in a great performance in Q2, and I knew we would be up against them. I prayed really hard in the car to go for it. I gave it everything I had! These laps were very tough for me, there was a lot of tension. \u00bb<\/p>\n BOOM! It’s SIX #BritishGP<\/a> \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 poles for @LewisHamilton<\/a>… \ud83d\udc4a #LH44<\/a>pic.twitter.com\/YRG8aVPrPe<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 7 juillet 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Very attached to his audience, Lewis Hamilton concluded by thanking the hundreds of thousands of fans who attended this Grand Prix, the majority of whom were supporters of his cause.<\/p>\n \u00ab I am very grateful for their encouragements, because without you, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve it! I don’t think it adds extra rhythm. But of course, there is a psychological element to consider when an athlete competes in front of their fans. \u00bb By the way, Lewis Hamilton secures the 76th pole of his career, extending the all-time record even further. He also clinches his 50th pole for Mercedes! A great day for the national hero, who immediately rushed to a TV screen to watch the England team match in the World Cup quarter-finals against Sweden. <\/p>\n GOAL!! \ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc65\udb40\udc6e\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc7f #WorldCup<\/a> #BritishGP<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/X69pDweYVx<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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