Lewis Hamilton makes ‘strange’ claim after shock Hungarian Grand Prix pole

Jamie Woodhouse 22 Jul 2023 6:28 PM

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, approaches '1' sign. Hungary, July 2023.

Lewis Hamilton is back on pole position in Formula 1, but in Hungary his 104th such success felt like the very first.

You had to go back to the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to find the last time Hamilton was on pole position in Formula 1, but at the Hungaroring, where he holds a record eight F1 victories, Hamilton delivered another stellar lap to upset the odds.

With dominant Championship leader Max Verstappen failing to improve on his final Q3 push lap, Hamilton seized the opportunity to go a mere 0.003s faster and seal pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton felt like this was his first pole

Hamilton already held the record for the most pole positions achieved in Formula 1, and having finally added another one to the collection a year-and-a-half on, Hamilton admitted it felt like pole number one all over again.

“Honestly, it feels like my first pole, believe it or not,” he told Sky F1.

“I know it’s been a lot and it feels strange to say that when it’s 104, but I don’t remember the last time that I had a pole, it feels so long ago.

“We were not expecting that coming into the weekend, we didn’t have an upgrade or anything like that. We’ve made small tweaks to our rear wing and the front wing, but the car felt terrible yesterday and we did some really, really great work overnight and we were relieved to see that it felt good this morning.

“But not in shooting range of the other guys, they just seemed a little bit too far ahead for us. And then as we started getting through the qualifying sessions…I nearly didn’t get through Q1, and then things just got better and better.

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“And I would say what I’ve been searching for with this car is to get confidence, confidence to be able to really send it, and I know how to do the fastest lap pretty much everywhere, but there’s ones that it’s more natural and comes easier, or not easier, but easier to connect for me, corner by corner and sector by sector, and this is one of those tracks.

“And today that last run, I just I knew I needed a tenth or so or more to get ahead of these guys and I just had to send it. I was like ‘nothing to lose, just give it absolutely everything you’ve got’ and I threw it into the high-speed corners trying to match their speed and hope it wasn’t too far off, but it was a great great lap.”

汉密尔顿随后加入竞争对手Verstappe他2021年的冠军n on the front row, ahead of an all-McLaren second row with Lando Norris starting P3 and Oscar Piastri P4.