Lewis Hamilton admits he was a "little bit gutted" to miss out on the fight for pole position after qualifying in fifth for the British Grand Prix. There had been much speculation about what Mercedes could achieve ahead of the session, with the team – who brought upgrades to the Silverstone event – having looked strong throughout the weekend so far. While Hamilton acknowledges that the updates were not drastic, he felt that things had looked promising, especially in the wet conditions. "We bought some parts to the car, but it wasn't necessarily a big upgrade," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 . "But it was definitely an improvement for us, and we seemed to have closed up a little bit. I think in the dry we wouldn't have been able to compete for top three or anything like that. "But I think in the rain, we had a chance today. In the rain, you're not as fast in the high-speed corners, [and] there's less bouncing. In the dry, obviously you're carrying a lot more speed, so then you have more bouncing, and the bouncing's making it pretty bad."
Hamilton expecting "tough" race at Silverstone
In terms of his race prospects, Hamilton is not expecting things to be easy from P5 – particularly with the Grand Prix forecast to be dry – but he is determined to try to put on a good show for the home crowd. "Our race pace was a little bit better yesterday than our single [lap pace], as it seems to be more so the case," the seven-time World Champion explained. "I guess that's also because you're going slow through the corners again. Fifth is going to be tough, but I'm going to try and work my way forwards. [I'm] a little bit gutted, really, because obviously we have such a great crowd here. "I was pushing so hard to get on the front row and fight for pole position today, and I think we could have been in the top three. Honestly, I think I was going for second at least. "[To] end up fifth makes tomorrow tough, but I know I've got this amazing crowd with me tomorrow, so I'll try and push forwards."
Most read
