BAKU – LewisHamilton surpassed Ayrton Senna’s career haul of 65 pole positions in Formula One as he edged Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas in a final lap shootout to secure top spot for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Hamilton banished memories of a dismal qualifying session in Baku last year, when he clipped the barrier and had to settle for tenth place on the starting grid, to grab pole with a time of 1:40.593 despite running wide at Turn 16.
He will be joined in an all-Mercedes front row by Bottas, who was pipped at the death when Hamilton outpaced him in the final lap after the session had been paused by a red flag.
“That was one of the most exciting laps that I’ve had all year,” he told Sky Sports. “A lot of pressure. The first lap I had the time but I made a mistake,” he added.
“(There was) a lot of pressure because of getting temperature in the tyre but the lap just got better and better. Coming out of the last corner I was just ‘thinking please be enough’.”
The British driver is now just two behind Michael Schumacher’s overall record of 68 poles in Formula One.
“That’s how qualifying should be,” Hamilton added. “Tomorrow will be a long hard race but we’re in the best position to start.”
Sebastian Vettel had his championship lead cut to 12 points when Hamilton won in Canada earlier this month, and now faces an uphill struggle to fend off his rival again after qualifying fourth.
“The result is okay but I’m not entirely happy,” the four-time Formula One champion said. “This morning didn’t help but it’s not an excuse. I’m no fan of excuses.”
Vettel was beaten to third by team mate Kimi Raikkonen in an all-Ferrari second row. (Reuters)
