‘It was a p***-poor lap from myself’: Lewis Hamilton left frustrated after missing out on Emilia Romagna Grand Prix pole… and fears for his chances of taking Imola win after claiming fans will see a ‘boring race’ on Sunday
- Lewis Hamilton lost out on Emilia Romagna GP pole by a tenth of a second
- World champion admitted mistakes on his final run cost him quickest time
- Hamilton hopes he can fight on track to claim 93rd F1 victory on Sunday
- But Brit fears his overtaking chances on narrow twisty Imola circuit
Lewis Hamilton admits an error strewn lap denied him the chance to take pole position for Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The Brit had been running fastest in the final session of qualifying but was pipped to pole position by his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by less than a tenth of a second.
Although there were no notable errors from the world championship leader at Imola, he conceded after the session that he endured a scruffy final run.
Lewis Hamilton admitted an error strewn run cost him the chance to gain pole position
Hamilton (right) bumps fists with Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas who pipped him to pole
Hamilton though was full of praise for his car, describing it as in better shape than last weekend when he won the Portuguese Grand Prix.
‘Valtteri did a good job,’ Hamilton said after the session. ‘Was a pretty p***-poor lap from myself. But these things happen and you can’t always get it perfect.
I’m grateful for the performance we have, which is really remarkable, and it feels better here than it did in the last race. It was a real challenge out there out there I enjoyed it.’
Mercedes once again lock out the front row ahead of Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
F1 has returned to Imola for the first time since 2006, and although Hamilton praised the circuit’s challenge to the drivers he fears not getting pole position could cost him the race win on Sunday.
The 35-year-old claimed that Imola’s narrow lay-out did not lend itself to many overtaking opportunities although he hopes the DRS feature, which boosts a following car’s top speed, can help him get by rivals on race day while also fending off a potential attack from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who qualified third.
‘They [Red Bull] were very strong on their race runs. This is a beautiful place that we are in here in Italy,’ he added. ‘The track is unbelievable and the speeds that we are going around this track. What is unfortunately really with this track is it’s so beautiful to drive but I’m pretty certain you’re going to see a pretty boring race tomorrow.
Hamilton fears the narrow and twisty layout at Imola will limit his overtaking opportunities
‘You can overtake on this long straight, but it’s quite narrow, you can’t follow. Once you get into turn one it’s a train from there. There’s no single place to overtake anywhere else.
‘So it’s going to be a challenge for people following. The DRS will hopefully give some overtaking opportunities into turn one for people.
‘For us that means we’re within half a tenth of each other so to have an opportunity of overtaking I think you need a gain of something like two seconds to the car ahead to have a chance. Nonetheless I’m going to give it everything I’ve got tomorrow.’
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