HAMILTON LOVES A BRIT OF PRESSURE

Hammy revels in challenge of a win-or-bust pole test

Lewis Hamilton insisted he revelled in the pressure of bouncing back from a scare in qualifying to claim pole position for today’s British Grand Prix.

Home favourite Hamilton appeared on course to delight the supportive Silverstone crowd after blitzing his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg with his opening lap in the shoot-out for pole.

But his time was controversially chalked off by the stewards after he was found guilty of placing all four wheels of his Mercedes off the track at the ultra-fast Copse corner.

The decision promoted Rosberg to provisional pole but Hamilton delivered the goods in the final moments of the session to take top spot for today’s race.

He said: “I feel like I have been under pressure my whole life and I just feel comfortable in that scenario.

“If I was having an argument with someone I would feel less comfortable because I don’t like confrontations. In a car, it is to do with confidence and belief in your ability.

“I enjoy doing things the hard way. I don’t know why but that is how it has been in my life.”

Despite fears of team orders after their final-lap collision in Austria last week, Hamilton and Rosberg will be free to race for the remainder of the season, albeit with the threat of a team-imposed ban should they collide again.

Their dramatic crash at the Red Bull Ring sparked yet another flashpoint in a rocky relationship between the pair who first locked horns on a race track as teenagers.

Hamilton said: “We’re here to do a job. When we’re at home it is very easy.

“Not too long ago I went for a swim in the pool downstairs and Nico came down and we had a chat.

“It was just normal, there was no racing, there was no agenda. When we are racing, it’s fierce competition. That’s how it has been since we were 13.”

Hamilton has won at Silverstone in successive years but Rosberg, 11 points clear in the championship, insists he is not worried.

Rosberg said: “Am I alarmed? No. Lewis was quicker today and I accept that but there is a great opportunity tomorrow.

“There is low grip so the start is going to be unusually difficult. It has not been one of Lewis’ strengths recently. It is still all to play for.”

Jenson Button’s Silverstone hoodoo continued after he was knocked out of qualifying at the first hurdle.

Button has never secured a podium finish in Britain and will start 17th.