Hamilton says two Q3 pole-winning laps were his best of weekend; World champion confident Mercedes on top of new start rules
Tuesday 25 August 2015 14:12, UK
A delighted Lewis Hamilton declared he had enjoyed a "fun" Belgian GP qualifying session after maintaining his stranglehold on pole position in 2015 – although is aware plenty of challenges remain ahead of him on race day.
Just two days after admitting the legendary circuit in the Ardennes forest was not one of his favourites, Hamilton produced one of his most impressive Saturday performances of the year to claim his 10th pole from 11 races by a large 0.458-seconds margin over team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton, who has also become just the third driver in history after Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher to top six qualifying sessions on the spin, said his W06 had been a joy to drive around the fast-flowing circuit, with his two Q3 laps the best of his weekend so far.
However, ahead of a race in which recently-announced changes to the start procedures for drivers will be seen for the first time, Hamilton isn't counting his chickens yet.
"Really happy today with the performance of the car and, so far this weekend, the performance of the team," he said.
"They have done a fantastic job and the car has been feeling great on the circuit and this is a circuit where you can get the right balance it's definitely one of the most fun to drive.
"Of course, very conscious that pole position is a great thing to have, but it's a long race and it's a long stretch down to Turn Five. But I'm just happy with today. My goal was to get pole position.
"Nico was very close but my last two laps were the best laps I had all weekend. So I'm very, very happy with them."
Although Hamilton had twice claimed pole in Belgium before, and won the race in 2010, he admits Saturday was the first time he felt he had truly conquered the 7km circuit's sweeping middle sector.
"Sector two in the past has always been a bit of a weak point. I know all the lines but have never really been able to put all the corners together," the world champion said.
"But definitely, particularly on those two laps, that was a very, very strong area for me."
Sunday will be the first time that drivers will no longer be able to talk through changes to their clutch bite point over the radio with their race engineers from the moment they first leave the pitlane to head to the grid.
Mercedes have already seen front-row starts cancelled out at the last two races by poor getaways, but Hamilton is confident the team are ready for Sunday's change to procedures.
"The team have done a lot of analysis and I've been in the factory, the same for Nico, practising and getting ready on the simulator," the world champion added.
"Then all this weekend we've been working on it, so we're prepared as we possibly can be and I think we feel relatively good about it. I hope that it's good for us but provides an exciting start for the fans."
