Hamilton: “It was insane” to take pole

After landing in Japan knowing he was less fast than the Ferrari in Singapore and Malaysia, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) wanted to establish its domination on the Suzuka circuit. The first stage was successfully completed, with the 71st pole position of the Englishman's career, relegating his closest opponent, Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) by more than three tenths.

A few minutes after this performance, the three-time world champion Formula 1 was ravenous. “It’s incredible to shoot here with this car, it’s one of the best, if not the best I’ve ever driven. The Mercedes is hair-raising, Suzuka has always been a kind of slide, but today it was crazy to ride on it”, enthuses Hamilton. “I rode three seconds faster than last season. I've been trying to take pole here for ten years, I'm finally succeeding (actually, eight, the Fuji circuit hosting the Japanese GP in 2007 and 2008)."

A lap to savor for @LewisHamilton

It gave him his first ever pole at Suzuka #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/HmNoyEJ86X

- Formula 1 (@ F1) 7th October, 2017

Suzuka is in fact one of the rare tracks that has been denied to him until now in qualifying. “Each time I encountered difficulties, I couldn't find the right balance, and I started on the wrong foot. And as long as I left properly, I then made bad choices. Today, everything went perfectly, and my knowledge of mechanics has improved. This allowed me to take pole. » All is well in the best of all worlds for the pole record holder, who set the best times this Saturday. “To be able to line up laps like I did, it’s just what you dream of every weekend. Motorsport is about the ultimate performance of the driver and his vehicle. »

As for the second place of his best enemy for the acquisition of the title, Hamilton is pragmatic. " I think that Sebastian Vettel will be more aggressive than me at the start. But I still have to keep the advantage, especially since we have generally gotten off to good starts this season. »