Hamilton: Vettel's 'Remove the Smile'

Lewis Hamilton sent a clear message to the competition by taking pole for the Australian GP more than half a second ahead of the Ferrari by Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel. The four-time world champion thus set the new lap record on the Albert Park circuit by signing his seventh pole in Melbourne, his fifth in a row on this track.

“I wanted to set a good time to take the smile off your face, the Briton humorously told Sebastian Vettel at a press conference. You might think that this is becoming the norm with the results achieved in recent years, but this is not the case. It still remains so intense. I'm so happy with this ride, it was really beautiful. I always strive for perfection and this was the best attempt I could make. »

Ouch ... #AusGP # F1isBack pic.twitter.com/GW5Ke7H9Oc

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 24, 2018

If you feel like you want to take the Mercedes are deemed excellent in qualifying by having a special mode on a timed lap, Lewis Hamilton claims not to have benefited from additional technical assistance.

“It was surprising how fast the Ferraris were, admitted the pole sitter. I can assure you that there is no “party” mode. I used the same mode in Q2 as at the end of Q3. There is no magic button other than the mode already engaged. The car simply performed very well. I tried to keep the tires at the right temperature. I struggled to perform well in all areas. »

His teammate Valtteri Bottas was less successful since the Finn was the victim of an off-track event destroying his W09 in Q3.