Lewis Hamilton has vowed to be “aggressive” as he lines up P5 on the grid for Sunday’s British Grand Prix.
The home hero and his Mercedes team had been more competitive at Silverstone throughout practice and rain for qualifying threatened to mix things up even more.
However, in the final minutes of Q3, Hamilton wasn’t really a factor as Ferrari and Red Bull swept the top four places.
“I’m a little bit gutted,” the seven-time world champion admitted post-session. “I was pushing so hard to fight for pole position today, and I think we could have been in the top three.
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“I was gunning for second at least, and to end up fifth makes tomorrow tough.
“But we have a good race car,” Hamilton added, “so I hope we are closer to race pace compared to the last race.”
Lewis then explained why he wasn’t able to capitalise when the conditions were at their best in Q3.
“In the rain, we were fighting for the front row, all the way until that second-to-last lap we were up there,” he claimed.
“We backed off to charge the battery and go into a racier mode for the final lap but that was just when the rain started to fall heavier and it cost us.
“I was so hopeful because we have this incredible crowd and we were in the fight. I was feeling great.
“I think in the dry we wouldn’t have been able to compete for a top three or anything like that, but I think in the rain we had a chance today.”
Wow. That was cool ? @LewisHamilton storming the Fan Zone stage ? pic.twitter.com/Y7QRbEdsh4
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 2, 2022
As for Sunday, Hamilton promised to go on the attack in pursuit of a record-breaking ninth win home at Silverstone.
“I will be aggressive tomorrow, don’t worry!” he assured fans.
“It’s not the worst position to start. In previous races, I would have been happy but this is the British Grand Prix and I was hopeful of more.
“I will try to pull something special out tomorrow,” he added. “I really appreciate the support here, the fans were amazing.”