Hamilton ‘gutted’ as Mercedes miss chance to contend

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Lewis Hamilton was left disappointed after missing out on a front-row start at Silverstone for the first time since 2014; George Russell also frustrated after qualifying eighth for Mercedes; watch live race coverage from 1.30pm on Sunday with lights out at 3pm

Last Updated: 02/07/22 6:00pm

Despite only qualifying fifth for his home race, Lewis Hamilton is pleased his Mercedes seems to be showing progress in closing the gap on Ferrari and Red Bull

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Despite only qualifying fifth for his home race, Lewis Hamilton is pleased his Mercedes seems to be showing progress in closing the gap on Ferrari and Red Bull

Despite only qualifying fifth for his home race, Lewis Hamilton is pleased his Mercedes seems to be showing progress in closing the gap on Ferrari and Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton said he felt “gutted” after qualifying fifth for the British GP, as he believes his Mercedes had the pace to seal a front-row start at Silverstone.

Hamilton, aided by significant upgrades to his Mercedes for his home race, had appeared the driver most likely to challenge Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for pole, but ultimately neither of last year’s world championship contenders were able to secure top spot.

In a dramatic finale, Carlos Sainz snatched the first pole of his F1 career, beating Verstappen and his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, with the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez fourth.

That left Hamilton, who has a record eight victories at Silverstone, fifth, and starting somewhere other than the front row at the British GP for the first time since 2014, when he went on to win the race from sixth.

“I’m a little bit gutted really because obviously we have such a great crowd here and I was pushing so hard to get on the front row and fight for pole position today,” the seven-time world champion said.

Carlos Sainz secured his first pole position in Formula One at the British Grand Prix

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Carlos Sainz secured his first pole position in Formula One at the British Grand Prix

Carlos Sainz secured his first pole position in Formula One at the British Grand Prix

“I think we could have been in the top three. I was gunning for second at least and so to end fifth, it makes tomorrow tough, but I know I’ve got this amazing crowd with me so I’ll try to push forward.”

Hamilton suggested the upgrades to his Mercedes, which has endured a woeful start to the 2022 season, were only partially responsible for putting him within striking distance of Red Bull and Ferrari.

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“It was definitely an improvement for us,” he added. “We seem 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.

“In the rain, you’re not as fast in the high-speed corners so there’s less bouncing and in the dry you’re carrying a lot more speed so then you have more bouncing, and the bouncing is making it pretty bad for us.”

Hamilton and Sainz were both experiencing bouncing during Saturday's final practice session

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Hamilton and Sainz were both experiencing bouncing during Saturday’s final practice session

Hamilton and Sainz were both experiencing bouncing during Saturday’s final practice session

Despite his concerns regarding the bouncing of the Mercedes, which was a major factor in the FIA issuing a new technical directive last month in an attempt to limit the danger of injuries to driver, Hamilton was cautiously optimistic over his team’s chances on Sunday.

“Our race pace was a little bit better for us on Friday than our single lap, as it seems to be more often than not,” he said.

Russell: Dry pace was promising

Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell suffered an even more disappointing Q3, finishing eighth after an error on his final flying lap saw him fail to improve his lap time on a rapidly-improving track.

“I think as the session progressed, everything just got slightly worse,” Russell said.

“I had really good confidence in Q1 and was in the top three for the majority, and then sort of didn’t have that come Q3 when it mattered. The car definitely had the pace to be P4 or P5 today. I made a mistake when it mattered on the last lap.”

Despite expressing disappointment at qualifying eighth, George Russell is nonetheless confident he can compete towards the front in Sunday's race

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Despite expressing disappointment at qualifying eighth, George Russell is nonetheless confident he can compete towards the front in Sunday’s race

Despite expressing disappointment at qualifying eighth, George Russell is nonetheless confident he can compete towards the front in Sunday’s race

Despite his disappointment, Russell remained hopeful of maintaining the impressive form he has shown in his debut season with Mercedes, which has left him as the only driver to finish every race this season in the top five.

The 24-year-old says he is focused on quickly passing the McLaren of Lando Norris (P6) and Alpine of Fernando Alonso (P7) early in the race to help make that possible.

“It’s little bit disappointing but there is definitely promise there, the pace this morning in the dry looked really strong,” Russell said.

“It’s going to be dry tomorrow and our pace at high fuel I think could be on a par with the guys at the front, but obviously starting down in P8 isn’t going to be an easy task.

“I want to get past Lando and Alonso as soon as possible and try to join the fight at the front. I think there’s no reason why we can’t be in that fight. Based on pure pace, there’s no reason why we couldn’t fight for a podium, but starting down in P8, it’s not where we want to be.”

Wolff: We should have continued with consecutive laps

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff explained the decision to get his drivers to back off ahead of their final flying laps may have been the cause of their disappointing lap times.

Movie star Keanu Reeves could not contain his excitement after witnessing qualifying for the British Grand Prix

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Movie star Keanu Reeves could not contain his excitement after witnessing qualifying for the British Grand Prix

Movie star Keanu Reeves could not contain his excitement after witnessing qualifying for the British Grand Prix

For much of Q3, the cars repeatedly set faster lap times as the track improved, but some cars – including the Mercedes – backed off to charge their batteries ahead of the final run.

“Qualy was looking OK until the last laps,” Wolff said. “I believe we had a car that was good enough for the front row, maybe top three, but in the end it didn’t come together at all. Therefore I’m pretty disappointed actually with the result.

“If we would have continued with the consecutive laps and given up a little bit with engine mode towards the end I believe we would have qualified in the top three. In the end you never know, but I think that lap would have been pretty good.”

F1 2022 heads to Silverstone this weekend for the big event of the motorsport summer. Join Sky Sports F1 for extensive coverage across the British GP weekend – the race starts at 3pm on Sunday, July 3.

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