Lewis Hamilton 'good enough' to fight Charles Leclerc without Ferrari meltdown

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton 'good enough' to fight Leclerc without Ferrari meltdown

Mercedes fortunate?

Martin Macdonald

Saturday 27 July 2019 16:31

Lewis Hamilton admits he doesn’t know how Mercedes managed to claim pole position for the German Grand Prix, but reckons his finishing time would have been good enough to match Charles Leclerc if the Ferrari man hadn’t been eliminated.

The Monegasque and Sebastian Vettel were the two fastest drivers over the practice sessions on Friday and Saturday morning. However, disaster struck not once, but twice, for the Scuderia as Vettel was eliminated in Q1 after a turbo issue, while Leclerc exited Q3 in tenth position after a fuelling problem.

Ferrari’s loss was Mercedes’ gain, as Hamilton went on to secure pole with Max Verstappen in second and Valtteri Bottas in third.

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“I don't really know how we did it today. I don't know what happened to the Ferraris,” the Brit said after qualifying.

“It's such an important race for us. It's our second home grand prix. Mercedes celebrating 125 years - it's incredible to celebrate in this way.

“They've been really fast all weekend. We brought some upgrades this weekend. The car's been feeling good, but I think the Ferraris were on another level.

Hamilton takes Germany pole, Ferrari fall apart amid Vettel, Leclerc failuresRead more

“The time at the end was good enough to compete at least, with Leclerc. If he had done a lap at the end it definitely would have been close between us.”

Hamilton claims he is a fan of the Hockenheimring, as it presents more than one opportunity for flat-out racing.

“This track is incredible,” he continued.

“Every year we come here and the cars get faster. Turn one is nearly flat. Turn 12 is nearly flat. It's a real challenge throughout the lap.”

Should the Mercedes man turn his pole into a win on Sunday, he will become the most successful driver in the history of the German GP in the F1 world championship.