Hamilton takes pole after day of drama
LEWIS HAMILTON will start the first race of his championship parade from pole position after he avoided sanction for a near-miss during qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
On virtually the identical piece of Interlagos tarmac where he passed Timo Glock to sensationally win his maiden title here a decade ago, there was further drama for Hamilton yesterday.
At first, it appeared as though the Mercedes star was at fault. In attempting to jump out of Sergey Sirotkin’s way, he inadvertently drove into the Russian’s path with the pair only inches away from a 150mph shunt.
Sirotkin turned sharply to his left, narrowly avoiding Hamilton’s Silver Arrows, before running over the grass.
Given the speed at which Sirotkin approached Hamilton’s Mercedes, the initial evidence suggested the Williams driver was on a flying lap, and Hamilton was caught napping.
But both parties later confirmed that the rookie Russian was, like Hamilton, only preparing for a speedy run.
As such, Hamilton was not summoned to the stewards, with the five-time world champion instead pointing the finger at Sirotkin for reckless driving.
‘As far as I was aware no driver behind me was on a quick lap,’ Hamilton said.
‘I was making sure I had the gap to the driver in front, but then I saw a car coming out of Turn 11 at high speed. He wasn’t on a quick lap so I don’t know what his thinking was. It was quite a disrespectful move in the sense that it was dangerous. It was kind of strange and completely unnecessary.’
Hamilton’s highspeed run-in with the Williams came during the second phase of qualifying as drops of rain threatened to have an impact on the result. In the end, the wet weather stayed away, and Hamilton did what he always seems to do, pulling a lap out of nowhere to claim his 10th pole of the season when it was Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel who seemed to hold the advantage.
Vettel is facing a grid penalty after he bizarrely lost his cool when he was called to the weighbridge in his Ferrari.
Keen to get back on track in the fight for pole, Vettel angrily gesticulated with the officials before he drove off at speed and broke the scales.
‘They shouldn’t call us when the conditions are changing like that,’ Vettel said. ‘It’s unfair.’
The German’s impending punishment could pave the way for Valtteri Bottas to be promoted a place, and an all-Mercedes front row, as the Silver Arrows bid to become only the second team in history to win five consecutive constructors’ championships.
Ferrari must outscore them by 13 points to take the team fight on to the final race in Abu Dhabi.