Silver lining for Mercedes
So near yet so far for Di Resta but the day belongs to Lewis Hamilton. By Ian Parkes
LEWIS Hamilton had the Union flags flying around Silverstone as he took pole position for today’s British Grand Prix. Hamilton produced a storming performance around t he Northamptonshire t rack, going quickest in all three sectors to finish four- tenths of a second faster than Mercedes team- mate Nico Rosberg.
After a wet, grey practice day on Friday, Hamilton emerged from his car bemoaning its lack of balance and claiming he could not recall the last time he was so uncomfortable.
Overnight, however, it appeared it had been transformed as the 28-year-old conjured the 29th pole of his Formula One career, the second with his new team this season.
On the second row, three- time world champion Sebastian Vettel just pipped Red Bull team- mate Mark Webber to third place, the Australian a winner here twice in the last three years.
Despite Mercedes’ dominance on Saturdays, come Sunday it has been a different story as the team have predominantly struggled for race pace and slipped down the field.
It is understood the Brackleybased marque have made considerable strides in recent weeks to correct the car’s faults when it comes to a race.
Hamilton, last on pole position at Silverstone in 2007, said: “This is incredible, it feels just like it did back then. To see the crowd here is fantastic, such a great turnout, and that [lap] was for them. Our long-run pace has improved and I’m going to be pushing to give it my all.”
Behind the Mercedes and Red Bulls, Paul Di Resta produced the best qualifying performance of his career but was then dropped to the back of the grid when his car was found to be underweight.
Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo, will now start fifth, with Di Resta’s Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil in sixth.
Romain Grosjean of Lotus is seventh, while title challengers Kimi Raikkonen, also in a Lotus, and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso are eighth and ninth respectively.
McLaren’s Jenson Button, yet to finish in the top three in 13 attempts at this track, missed out on a place in the top 10 by 0.057sec but the 33-year-old was elevated to 10th by Di Resta’s penalty.
Button said: “I’m higher than we expected to be. It’s been very difficult this weekend, but we changed a few things for qualifying and it was much better, although still not quick. We should be positive – we’ve improved the car, and you never know what might happen.”
Team- mate Sergio Perez had a punctured tyre in the final hourlong practice session and will start in 13th position. In between are Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne.
Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg will line up in 14th, with Pastor Maldonado 15th, the Venezuelan doing little to help Williams’ 600th Grand Prix celebrations go with a swing.
To add to Williams’ woes come the end of the opening session, Valtteri Bottas could do no better than 17th, missing out on a place in Q2 by 0.146sec, before being lifted to 16th.
Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez, like Bottas without a point so far in his debut season, failed to make it out of Q1 for the sixth time in eight qualifying sessions this season.
Caterham’s Charles Pic led the backmarkers and will start 18th, with Marussia’s Jules Bianchi 19th, finishing 1.7sec ahead of team-mate Max Chilton. Although Chilton posted the slowest time, the 22-yearold starts in 20th, with Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde in 21st due to the five-place penalty incurred for running into Hulkenberg in Canada. Di Resta starts in 22nd spot.