Lewis Hamilton is confident of a strong race on Sunday after claiming a dominant pole for the Styrian Grand Prix.
As the rain poured at the Red Bull Ring, the six-time world champion was in a class of his own taking P1 by 1.2s from Max Verstappen, after two remarkable laps to finish qualifying.
For Hamilton, simply being able to get out on track on Saturday was a relief in itself, after facing the possibility of a sixth-place start had the grid been formed by lap times on Friday afternoon.
Not only that, but he also loved the opportunity to drive his Mercedes in the wet.
“I am pleased with that, what a tricky day it was difficult down here for all of us,” he told Paul di Resta post-session.
“A lot of the time you can’t even see where you are going and I had one big moment the lap before last a big aquaplane, I had my heart in my mouth but I was able to improve on the last lap, nice and clean.”
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Conditions are expected to improve for Sunday’s race with only a small chance of a stray shower, but after struggling to match the pace of Verstappen and teammate Valtteri Bottas in practice, Hamilton is sure he will be back on form in the dry.
“Yesterday was a difficult day, it started off well in FP1 and then FP2 there was a big issue for us, but we discovered it overnight – nothing major,” he revealed.
“Today would have been better for us if it had been dry but I am grateful for the rain like always.
“Tomorrow looks like a much sunnier day but we are prepared for both conditions and that’s where I want to start, so I am glad it was a trouble-free session with no mistakes. That’s always a positive.”
As for Bottas, he will start a disappointing fourth after failing to match the improvements others were making in Q3.
“It was not easy and I didn’t look to be fourth on the grid but obviously tricky conditions can bring different challenges,” said the Finn.
“For me personally I just wasn’t able to build enough temperature into the tyres.
“The reason was my front right brake was glazing throughout the qualifying, so I couldn’t really maximise the potential of the car in qualifying – which is really important for the confidence in the wet conditions.
“It made it quite tricky and for sure it’s disappointing.”
