Lewis Hamilton says he was relieved to deliver pole position for his home race on his final flying lap, after he missed out on his first attempt which was deleted after he ran slightly wide at Turn 9.
The Mercedes driver took pole by a margin of more than three-tenths on his final attempt, despite admitting it wasn't the "cleanest" of sessions, whilst also admitting he felt huge pressure to deliver and not let his engineers down.
"Not the cleanest qualifying session," he said after. "I think we had really good pace the first lap in Q1, ran a bit wide at Turn 3 and that cost like four-tenths there. After that I had really good pace.
"The penultimate lap [in Q3] was a very good lap. Unfortunately it was taken away. I touched the kerb and it just pulled me further. I didn’t feel like I was going to be be running wide, but the car bottomed kind of bounced just outside the line.
"A lot of pressure for that final lap. I was sitting in the garage knowing I couldn’t let the guys down because on the first lap I had.
"The second lap wasn’t as good, but I was making sure I was cautious, making sure I got the lap in. I’m grateful that I did and really again thank you also to all my team who have done an amazing job to have the performance we have this weekend. It’s outstanding."
Hamilton has won three home races and should he deliver a fourth victory on Sunday, he would become the most successful British driver at Silverstone.
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