Hamilton: It will be tough to keep Vettel behind

2013 British Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton said claiming pole position for the British Grand Prix brought back memories of doing the same six years ago.

“It’s incredible,” said Hamilton after taking his second pole position of the year, “it feels just like it did in 2007.”

“Just to see the crowd here today is fantastic, such a great turn out for everyone. That was a lap for them. I hope that tomorrow we can do something special for them.”

“This is really down to the team, they’ve just been doing a phenomenal job improving the car constantly,” he added. “I haven’t been feeling 100% comfortable in the car all the weekend so it was good to finally get a lap.”

Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two in qualifying but warned that they will face pressure from the Red Bulls, who start on row two, in the race: “I think undoubtedly it’s going to be tough for us to keep Sebastian [Vettel] behind.”

“Our long-run pace wasn’t as bad as we’ve seen in the past. I’m hoping with the temperatures and a bit of acre we can nurture the tyres to get a good result. I will be pushing, giving it my all tomorrow, to try to finish up ahead.”

Vettel, who lined up third, said he couldn’t match Hamilton’s pace: “I don’t know if Lewis found a shortcut or if he has something special round here.”

“A phenomenal lap, I think it wasn’t in reach today. I was very happy with the lap I had at the end and I think it was very close with Mark [Webber] as well.

2013 British Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
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34 comments on “Hamilton: It will be tough to keep Vettel behind”

  1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    29th June 2013, 14:50

    “I don’t know if Lewis found a shortcut or if he has something special round here.”

    *cough SECRET TEST cough*

      1. Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
        29th June 2013, 15:34

        lol +1

    1. Secret Test you say @omarr-pepper and @day? wasn’t Mercedes sticking it on Pole before the test? Or is my memory failing me?

    2. yes, its sure Hamilton did more testing than Rosberg to get so far ahead, right

      1. @bascb
        It’s actually not a stupid thought.
        They might have had equal time in the car, but I think it’s fair to say that Hamilton is a faster driver then Rosberg. But he wasn’t because he didn’t feel comfortable with the brakes.
        He then had those three days of testing, thus allowing him to adapt, learn and now it seems like he has got the hang of it.
        Therefore his gain was much greater, because he was performing well under his usual level. He didn’t learn how to be faster, he just learned how to use the brakes, thus revealing his actual pace.
        Unlike Rosberg who wouldn’t have learned nearly as much because he was driving around his peak before the test anyway.

        1. Sums it up, and is most likely true

        2. That’s actually a very good point.

          1. It would be, but if that’s the case how come he was slower in Monaco ? Directly after the test ?

          2. @f190 I was more referring to the fact that Ham would have improved more in general over Rosberg, not specifically just for this race. I probably should have highlighted that.

        3. The reason Hamilton’s better on the breaks now is because they changes his break material from Canada. It’s now the same as he had at McLaren that suits his very high force breaking style.

        4. Makes no sense at all. If anything it’s the opposite. Hamilton was faster than Rosberg in the first races and then Rosberg was faster. Rosberg won the Monaco race that was after the test.

          1. @patrickl
            Rosberg’s form picked up around Bahrain. Not after the test in Spain. His performance in Monaco didn’t look massively different from the one in Spain (just before the test).
            In Monaco his car was just able to handle the tyres.

            Lewis on the other hand couldn’t hang on to Rosberg after he (Rosberg) improved. Lewis’ improvement came after Monaco.
            Whether that is down to simply changing the brake material (not sure if that actually happened?) or the test, I have no idea.
            But Hamilton did improve AFTER Spain (although a race later). Rosberg did so before Spain. So I do think it makes sense.
            It is just a theory though.

        5. Even if they used last years car for doing the pirelli tests he would still learn about he brakes so what is your point? And this would have been legal anyway.

          1. @shadow
            Remember. I am not arguing legality. I am arguing the possible advantages.

        6. I did think you have a solid point there really @mads, but it only holds until we realize that we are now in Silverstone, and Hamilton has been struggling with the brakes a lot in Monaco, and it was also noticable in Canada, although there it was not so visible.

          For it to hold up, he would have had to have been on top of it in Monaco already really. And I doubt Rosberg would not have learnt a lot in the test as well.

          1. @bascb
            No he would not have needed to be on top of it straight away.
            One problem might take X kilometers of practice to solve.
            One test isn’t all that is needed to go from unsolved to solved. Not necessarily anyway.
            It depends on the problem, the amount of practice needed to solve it, and the length of the test.
            But it can be a step on the way to solve that problem, and been responsible for making the problem, less of a problem. And therefore reduce the number of race weekend Merc and Lewis needs before the problem is completely eradicated.
            The reason I think that Hamilton therefore has more to learn pr. kilometer driven then Rosberg is simply that Hamilton has a very specific problem that he can work on. Rosberg does not. It’s easier and takes less time to solve a problem when you know what it is, then to just get better and faster as a driver.

    3. @omarr-pepper

      Eeew, look what I found in you coughed up fur ball:

      “Hamilton, who tried a further revised braking system with a new master cylinder and pedal leverage in a bid to enhance the feel he wants under heavy retardation”

      Maybe they are just nudging it closer :)

    4. Maybe everybody should shut up about the test now that the FIA has dealt with it…. (Even if you don’t support the outcome)

    5. -1 lol.

      so merc have been putting it on pole and the front row since the 2nd round of the season, but this pole in particular is because of the test, right? actually, not even because of the test, that was almost 2 months and 2 races ago, but because of the tribunal hearing, that’s the most recent event in people’s memories. yeah, makes sense.

      if anything, the test might improve their race pace, but give credit where it is due, the Merc’s have always been strong in Qualifying.

      1. that was for @omarr-pepper, not you Gilles.

  2. LOL @ people saying this is because of the test

    Not like Mercedes have been on pole 5 of the last 6 races…

    1. +1 all the armchair experts who know everything about nothing !

  3. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
    29th June 2013, 15:00

    It will be impossible to keep Vettel behind.

  4. Lewis will need a big help from Nico :)

    1. to be able to win tomorrow

  5. Lewis is probably a bit too pessimistic. Mercedes had 2 problems – airflow transporting heat to the rears and the stiff suspension. I heard now from different sources that they solved the airflow problem – so they shouldn’t be too far away from RBR on tire wear. But we’ll see tomorrow.

  6. Here’s hoping they have a solid points finish tomorrow.

  7. How I’d love to see Ham win with Webber on the podium along with Di Resta. That’d be awesome.

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      29th June 2013, 16:38

      you’re making your Christmas wishes in July

  8. It’s called racing at home. Hamilton reminded me of Mansell today, pulling out something extra around Silverstone. Some of his quotes above remind me of Nigel Mansell too.

    1. He was on it that lap. It’s looked close between rosberg and Hamilton all weekend so to pull nearly half second out on the last lap was just amazing.

  9. A vettel win tomorrow i guess.. bye bye ferrari for the WDC.. :-(

    1. Maybe because there are 12 race remaining you can’t say anything from now!!

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