Lewis Hamilton glad to end barren pole run after ‘long slog’

Lewis Hamilton described his pole position drought as a “long slog” in the wake of capping the 2019 Formula 1 season with top spot during qualifying in Abu Dhabi.

Hamilton claimed four pole positions through the first half of the campaign but his pace-setting effort in Germany, back in July, remained his most recent Saturday success.

In Abu Dhabi on Saturday Hamilton led the way through both Q3 runs as he finished nearly two-tenths clear of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, bringing his longest drought in the hybrid era to a close.

“It’s been such a long slog trying to get this pole position,” said Hamilton.

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“We just kept our heads down, just continuing to try. The guys have been doing a great job around me, all the drivers, so I was really just trying to focus on continue to do my job.

“Yesterday [Friday practice] was quite wobbly, so I had to really recompose myself last night and come back today focused.

“I managed to really dial in the car with great work from the engineers, mechanics continuing to do a great job.”

Hamilton added that “there’s always room to improve. There’s been a lot of growth in this whole year for so many people within the team.

“I can obviously speak for myself, there’s been a lot of growth, but also these last couple of races, there’s been a lot of growth from a driver’s perspective, just constantly looking for those small milliseconds.

“Valtteri 2.0 has been rapid also this weekend. I’m glad that we’re in this position.

“Of course to end the qualifying season with a pole, which has been a while, because we only had four I think earlier on this year.

“It’s been a special car, and it’s the last time I’ll get to qualify with it, so I’m glad I did it proud today.”