Lewis Hamilton has revealed Esteban Ocon was on standby to replace him for the German Grand Prix after falling ill on Saturday.
The Briton arrived at Hockenheim feeling less than 100% but battled through the final practice before taking the ultimate remedy of clinching pole in qualifying.
“I wasn’t feeling good this morning, bit of a sore throat,” he explained.
“We prepped just in case I wasn’t going to be able to do the session. I did the practice and we were prepared to be able to put the second driver in, that was the worst-case scenario. We got through, good.”
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With the scare averted, now Hamilton will be hoping for an overnight cure before bidding for his eighth win in 11 races this season on Sunday.
Looking ahead though, having prayed for rain all weekend, now the shoe is on the other foot starting from pole.
“I think it’s the weather, it can be a threat. There was talk of rain even today, and tomorrow potentially more so,” he explained.
“I’ve not looked at the long runs so I don’t know how strong they are on the long runs, but it’s not the easiest of tracks to overtake.
“Depending on the temperature, if it’s like yesterday, it makes quite a difficult race and probably more stops.
“If it’s like today, and temperatures were getting hotter towards the end, it’s still going to be a real challenge.
“I think the real challenge is making sure we do all our due diligence and make sure we operate at the level we’ve been operating at today.”