Lewis Hamilton says he wants to give the British fans something to celebrate, but recognising his cars race pace weakness, he’s eyeing pole position rather than the race win.
Mercedes have secured pole position in four of the seven races in 2013, proving the W04’s impressive one-lap pace. However come Sunday their tyre management has seen them lose places. Despite things looking up in Canada last weekend – where Hamilton qualified second and finished third – the Brit is expecting high wear from Silverstone’s high-speed corners.
“Tyre degradation,” he exclaimed when asked what his expectations were. “The long run is going to be a challenge because there are lots of high-speed corners, so it’s the perfect place to overheat your tyres and degrade them.
“But at the last two races the long-run pace has been fantastic. It was great in Monaco, and it was really good here.
“We weren’t as quick as the Red Bulls and Ferraris, but it was really good for us.”
Hamilton, who was the last British winner of the race when he dominated the field in 2008, is keeping his chances of winning in check, but he hopes to give fans a reason to celebrate on at least one of the two days.
“I want to give the fans a good result, for sure,” he added. “Going to Silverstone is always a special one for me, and I want to win it, in my heart.
“I want to be as high up as I can possibly be. It’s important to have a Brit on the podium.
“Pole position would be incredible too. It would be like 2007 all over again, so that’s what I’m going there to do.”
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