“It is incredible,” Hamilton said. “It feels just like it did in 2007. Just to
see the crowd here today is fantastic. This is down to the team, they have
done a phenomenal job. I haven’t felt 100 per cent comfortable in car all
weekend so I’m happy to get a (good) lap.
“Obviously we’ve got a great car, it’s just that it’s sometimes difficult to
find the right balance. Sometimes it’s like a wild bull. You have to tame
it.”
Whether Hamilton can tame the Red
Bulls of Sebastian
Vettel and Mark Webber, and secure a first British victory since his
own in 2008, now depends firstly on what sort of a start he can get, and
secondly to what extent Mercedes have got on top of their tyre degradation
issues.
“I think it is going to be tough to keep Seb behind,” Hamilton predicted. “But
our long-run pace is not as bad as we have seen in the past so I am hoping
with a bit of care we can nurture the tyres to get a good result.”
Vettel did not appear to argue. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow,” the triple
world champion said.
“They are bloody quick in qualifying, almost in a different world on Saturday
afternoons. I don’t know if Lewis found a shortcut but that was a phenomenal
lap today.
“I don’t think that time was within reach. But I’m very happy with today – it
[third] is a good position to start from.”
One thing is for sure, if Mercedes do claim victory, we can expect plenty more
sniping over their ‘private’ tyre test for Pirelli in Barcelona last month.
That three-day, 1000km test, for which they were officially reprimanded last
week, came just days after Mercedes struggled badly with degradation at the
high-speed, high-downforce Circuit de Catalunya.
If they have managed to sort out those issues for the similarly high-speed
Silverstone track, their rivals will be sure to cry foul.
Hamilton said he was not letting the intrigue distract him from his goal.
“It’s the first time since 2008 that I’ve come here with a car I can really
compete with,” he said in a rather pointed remark which was unlikely to have
escaped the notice of former employers McLaren.
The Woking team’s woes continued, Jenson
Button and Sergio Perez claiming 11th and 14th on the grid
respectively, but there was better news for Scotland’s Paul di Resta; the
Force India driver will line up a career-best fifth.
Daniel Ricciardo, hoping to claim Webber’s seat at Red Bull next year, took a
mightily impressive sixth position in his Toro Rosso.
Around 100,000 pairs of eyes, though, will be strained on Hamilton; eager to
see whether he can convert pole into a wildly popular victory, one which
would surely reignite his championship hopes as well as a few conspiracy
theories.