Lewis Hamilton sends message to Silverstone crowd after taking pole at British Grand Prix
LEWIS HAMILTON revealed the support from the crowd was essential in helping him put his Mercedes on pole position for his home Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Lewis Hamilton meets 'awesome' fans at Silverstone
“I am so grateful for the support and without you I wouldn't have been able to do it,” the four time world champion said.
The massive crowd at Silverstone was treated to a spectacular qualifying session that saw the top three drivers separated by just a tenth of a second.
Hamilton once again delivered a breathless time with his final throw of the dice to pip his rival, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, by just 0.044 seconds.
The 33-year-old Englishman has now put himself in a great opportunity to claim a historic win on Sunday, as he looks to surpass Jim Clark and Alain Prost with a sixth victory in Britain.
"I gave it everything I could," Hamilton said standing in front of the main stand.
"It was so close between the Ferraris. I was just praying I could do it for you guys.”
Lewis Hamilton put in a new track record time of 1:25:892, which saw him claim his 50th pole for Mercedes.
He now has the second-most by a driver-team combination in history behind Michael Schumacher and Ferrari’s 58.
Vettel secured second place with a time of 1:25.936, but afterwards revealed he almost pulled out of qualifying altogether.
The German, explaining that he had a neck injury, said: “To be honest this morning I was not sure I could do qualifying.
“I am happy but I lost some time on the straight."
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen took third with a time of 1:25.990 and Hamilton’s Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas secured fourth with a time of 1:26.217 completing the second row of the grid.