Lewis grabs Mercedes’ 100th pole slot
Lewis Hamilton yesterday grabbed pole position for today’s Brazilian Grand Prix – after avoiding a sanction when he came within inches of causing a high-speed crash.
On virtually the same piece of tarmac where he passed Timo Glock to sensationally win his maiden title a decade ago, Hamilton, caught napping as he prepared for his quick lap, veered into the path of Sergey Sirotkin’s Williams approaching at 150mph.
Sirotkin had to react quickly, turning the wheel of his Williams sharply to the left before ending up on the grass. Newly-crowned world champion Hamilton set a track record to secure his 10th pole of the year and Mercedes’ 100th pole in Formual 1. “That was some qualifying session,” Hamilton said.
“Obviously with the weather going up and down, and the Ferraris being quick this weekend, I’m going with my engineer to get the car in the best shape.”
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel qualified second, just 0.093 seconds adrift of Hamilton, but faced a penalty after losing his cool when called to the weighbridge.
Keen to get back on track, Vettel angrily gesticulated with the officials before he drove off at speed and broke the scales.
However, after facing the stewards, Vettel was hit with a £22,000 fine, but avoided a grid penalty.
Valtteri Bottas finished third for Mercedes ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, with the Red Bull of Max Verstappen fifth.