F1 applauds Lewis Hamilton's incredible century of pole positions

Lewis Hamilton

F1 applauds Hamilton's incredible century of pole positions

Hamilton is F1's first qualifying centurion

Sam Hall

Sunday 9 May 2021 10:10

Lewis Hamilton's rivals have paid tribute to the seven-time F1 champion's astonishing century of pole positions.

Hamilton set the fastest time in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix to take his haul into three figures.

To underline Hamilton's achievement, only five teams in F1's 71-year history have scored more than 100 poles compared to his performance as a driver on his own.

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Leading the plaudits was Hamilton's first team-mate from their time together at McLaren in 2007 in Fernando Alonso, with the Spaniard delivering an ominous warning that the figure set will continue to rise.

"It's amazing, and it's not going to be the last," said Alonso. "That number will only go up.

"It's an amazing achievement which shows how good Lewis is, not only over one lap but a race situation, with the victories, the podium situation, the championships.

"In a way, it's not a surprise with the way he is dominating the sport. Now here he is and he is getting better and better every time."

Hamilton's current team-mate Valtteri Bottas added: "Massive congrats to Lewis for the 100. It’s a crazy number, so well done."

Lando Norris is the driver most closely following Hamilton's career progression after entering the sport with McLaren and being backed by the team in the latter stages of his junior career.

Conceding McLaren is "in a slightly different position to when he [Hamilton] started his career in Formula 1," Norris said: “It’s incredibly impressive to see what he has achieved and I kind of look up to maybe achieving such a thing.

“I’m not fussed if I never do but I think looking up to something like that and seeing what is possible in F1 and what an incredible driver he is. It’s pretty cool to go racing with him every now and then and get to race him on track.

“Congrats to him and I’m sure there are many more this year that he is probably going to be able to get, too.”

Norris' McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo echoed the comments, adding: "It's huge!

"The number seems crazy, 100, but Lando wouldn't have done 100 races, not even close so it's pretty crazy.

"You see now even with some pressure from Max, he is still able to execute when it counts so that is something I have always tried to give him credit for.

"He is still able to do it in the heat of the moment when the pressure is on him and all eyes are on him and I think that's where he is able to deliver and be as consistently strong as he has been in all these years."