Hamilton secures 99th pole

LEWIS HAMILTON delivered a lap he said bordered on perfection to claim the 99th pole position of his stunning career for today’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Few had backed the seventime world champion to finish at the summit of the time charts at Imola yesterday, with Max Verstappen, in his speedier Red Bull, expected to land his second pole in as many rounds of the new Formula One campaign.

But Hamilton produced a vintage qualifying display to beat Red Bull driver Sergio Perez by just 0.035 seconds, with Verstappen disappointed to finish third fastest. Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas was only eighth in the other black machine, almost half-asecond adrift.

‘I didn’t know whether Max or Sergio had improved on that last lap for quite some time, so I was definitely nervous,’ insisted an animated Hamilton.

‘But I knew going into qualifying it was going to take something special and the most perfect lap I could do, and a little bit more, in order to beat the Red Bulls because they have been so fast all weekend.’

Formula 1 Emilia romagna grand Prix, imola, italy, qualiFying: 1 L Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 14.411secs, 2 S Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:14.446, 3 M Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:14.498, 4 C Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:14.740, 5 P Gasly (Fra) Scuderia 1:14.790, 6 D Ricciardo (Aus) McLaren 1:14.826, 7 L Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:14.875, 8 V Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:14.898, 9 E Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:15.210, 10 L Stroll (Can) Aston Martin No Time Set