Formula One: Find out what Hamilton said on his victory in Melbourne
Sports
By
Mirror
| Mar 17, 2019
The five-time world champion stunned his rivals to secure pole position for the 2019 season-opening showdown in Melbourne
Lewis Hamilton admitted “he had no idea” Mercedes had the pace advantage over their rivals after the five-time world champion took a sixth successive pole position at the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton struggled with a brake problem during the frenetic final session at Albert Park but edged teammate Valtteri Bottas by 0.112 seconds with a searing second lap of one minute 20.486 seconds that set a record at the circuit.
The one-two punch by Mercedes left Ferrari and their championship rivals stunned, with Hamilton’s chief challenger Sebastian Vettel, who qualified third, more than seven-tenths of a second off the five-time champion’s pace.
And the Briton, who now has a record-equalling eight poles at Melbourne’s Albert Park, was delighted to put his car at the front of the grid for Sunday’s showdown.
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“We had no idea that we'd have this gap to the others,” he said.
“We thought we were behind, we thought it was going to be a push, so we gave it absolutely everything and more to arrive here with the best possible package and delivery.
“I feel so fortunate to be in the position I'm in today.
“Valtteri and I have been pushing the car to its absolute limits.
“We haven't massively changed the car; it's almost the same set-up we had in Barcelona, so this gap was really surprising to see. This is the first time we've unleashed the full potential of the car and I'm so happy to have a car that I can fight with.
“This is a really great start to the new season and it puts us in a good position for the fight tomorrow.”
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