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Lewis Hamilton thanks Silverstone fans after claiming British GP pole

Hamilton now third on the all-time list of pole position winners behind Schumacher and Senna

Nico Rosberg congratulates Lewis Hamilton on his pole position for the British GP
Image: Nico Rosberg congratulates Lewis Hamilton on his pole position for the British GP

Lewis Hamilton says he was inspired by the support of a buoyant Silverstone crowd after claiming a "special" pole position for the British GP.

With neither Hamilton nor Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg able to improve on their final flying laps, the Englishman will start Sunday’s race from the front of a Noah’s Ark grid topped by two Mercedes cars followed by a pair of Williams and a brace of Ferraris.

After struggling to balance his car during blustery conditions on Friday, Hamilton rediscovered his groove as he led the way in Saturday’s morning Practice Three hour before generally appearing to hold a small but significant edge over Rosberg in qualifying.

"It couldn't get any better," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. "The car was great this morning and the crowd is unreal - they are every year, but it feels like there is even more of a buzz and it is great to have that support."

The Englishman will, however, have to begin Sunday's grand prix on a set of tyres which he lightly locked up during Q2 and which are already a lap older than Rosberg's starting set. Hamilton has since confirmed that the moment didn't cause a flat-spot to the tyre.

"It's a special day, it's special to get pole on your home turf. The fans really do motivate me," said Hamilton. "It's not been the smoothest weekend in terms of getting a balance and we made changes that were perhaps not spectacular for qualy but which should hopefully be good for the race. When it came to Q3 l was just really happy l could go all out for that lap and I'm incredibly happy."

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Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton is delighted after claiming pole position for the British GP.

After being out-qualified by Rosberg throughout last year, the only season during his F1 career in which he had been bested by his team-mate, Hamilton has claimed eight pole positions for the nine 2015 races to date. But if the world champion knows what has inspired the turnaround, he isn't saying. 

More from British Gp 2015

"Naturally that was something that I wanted to improve this year and last year obviously, I think I had seven poles in the whole year," he said. "It made the races a lot harder for me, to obviously get past Nico on those occasions, which I did on quite a few occasions – but generally made the races a lot harder to win.

"So that obviously was a focal point. It’s difficult to say where it’s improved. That first lap in Q3 has been a really important one and generally just through the year I’ve been having good laps in that session."

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Lewis Hamilton guides you around the Silverstone track after claiming pole position for the British GP.

Level with Sebastian Vettel, who will line up a modest sixth after being out-qualified by both Williams drivers as well as Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, with 45 pole positions prior to Saturday, only two drivers in the history of F1 have now claimed more poles than Lewis: Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.

But while Hamilton naturally took the acclaim of the Silverstone crowd, the star of the session was arguably Felipe Massa. While the rest of his Q3 peers - including Hamilton, who abandoned his final lap - came a cropper in the closing stages as the wind picked up, the veteran Brazilian produced a barnstorming lap to snatch third on the grid out of the clutches of team-mate Valtteri Bottas - the subject, it is reputed, of a £15m buy-out clause amid ongoing speculation the Williams driver is being lined up to replace the faltering Raikkonen at Ferrari.

Image: Massa will start Sunday's race third on the grid

"I feel good. I feel that I’m driving well, understanding the tyres and trying, putting the right lap," said Massa. "2008 I had more pole positions – but the car was more competitive. The problem is them! [Mercedes] If they were a little bit slower maybe I could have been on pole today! That’s the problem compared to 2008. But I feel good. I feel really in good shape."

Quite a bit slower: the Mercedes package has proved particularly formidable around the wide open spaces of Silverstone with Massa’s best effort still almost a second shy of Hamilton's. Once again, race day appears set for another exclusive battle for victory between Nico and Lewis.

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