Hamilton thought he could aim for the front row at Silverstone

Since the start of the season, a fifth place in qualifying would be good news for Lewis Hamilton. But at Silverstone, the Briton seemed disappointed with his performance. In front of his audience, the pilot Mercedes wanted more. It must be said that the weather conditions could have allowed him to aim higher. In Q1 and Q2, Lewis Hamilton managed to get involved in the fight with Ferrari et Red Bull. So in Q3, he intended to repeat the operation. But ultimately a bad strategic choice prevented him from reaching the first two rows on the starting grid. An error on the part of Mercedes which comes at the worst time this season.

« In the rain we were fighting for the front row and we were there until the penultimate lap, but I was asked to slow down and wait until the last lap, and it rained. So it was a bit unfortunate », Explains the seven-time world champion. He was not the only one to be trapped by the changing conditions in qualifying. Before him, Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon or even Pierre Gasly failed to improve their marks in Q2. “ I wanted to switch to a faster power mode for the last lap, charging the battery, and so on. And as we were doing that, it rained a little more on the last lap », Underlines the Briton.

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Rain could have helped Hamilton and Mercedes

But where Mercedes may have regrets is that they certainly missed their best chance to be on the front row since the start of the season. At Silverstone, the improvements made to the W13 seem to have allowed the star brand to get closer to the two leading teams. The rain also strongly contributed to this result. “ We brought new parts to the car, but it wasn't necessarily a big development. But it's definitely an improvement for us and it seems like we've gotten a little bit closer. In the dry, we wouldn't have been able to fight for a top 3 or anything like that. But with the rain today we had a chance », Declares Lewis Hamilton on Sky Sports F1.

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If on a wet track, the cards have been reshuffled, the British Grand Prix should be contested on a dry track. Without the help of the weather, it would be difficult for the star brand to aim for victory. “ I don't know if we can fight for victory, the Red Bulls are so fast in the dry, they escape on the straights and in the corners at high speed, because they have no bounce while we we have some here, especially in the turns », worries the seven-time world champion after qualifying.

Managing to stay close even in the dry

If there is a track where Lewis Hamilton is capable of dazzling performance, it is Silverstone. So carried by his large audience, the Mercedes driver intends to push his W13 to the limits. “ Our race pace was a little better yesterday, but I think they are still ahead, but we'll see, I hope we'll be a little closer in race pace compared to the last event, and if it is the case and I can hang on to them, maybe we can progress. So I will be aggressive tomorrow (Sunday). » The appointment has been made for Lewis Hamilton, it now remains to be seen whether the Briton can confirm the renewed form shown since Friday.

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