Pole sitter Hamilton happy to get "potential out of car" at windy Paul Ricard
F1 News
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
After getting his 60th pole position for Mercedes, reigning champion Lewis Hamilton was happy to have gotten the full potential out of his W10, as he smashed his own lap record from 2018 by two seconds.
The Brit played second fiddle to teammate Valtteri Bottas throughout all three Free Practice sessions but, as he often does, turned it up when it mattered most, setting the pace and leaving his rivals behind him.
Even better for Hamilton is Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel finishing in P7, with the German only getting one flying lap in Q3 because of a mistake he made during his first attempt.
Speaking trackside after getting his second pole position at Paul Ricard, Hamilton was happy with his own performance.
"It is not an easy track there are a lot of run-off areas and Valtteri has been quick all weekend," the 34-year-old said.
"I am really happy that I got the potential out of the car.
"The wind has been picking up and been gusty so you have to be dynamic with the track and I took a bit much into the last corner and the wind took the back end. We have been working hard on the engineering side - so overall great teamwork."