3
Lewis Hamilton has revealed that Mercedes was prepared to replace him for qualifying in Germany after he felt ill on Saturday morning.
Hamilton stated that he came down with a sore throat prior to the on-track action, which led Mercedes to prepare a replacement, which was likely Esteban Ocon, who is the team's official reserve driver.
Hamilton went on to take pole position by three-tenths of a second ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, while teammate Valtteri Bottas finished third.
"I wasn't feeling good this morning," Hamilton said in the FIA press conference. "I had a bit of a sore throat so we just prepped just in case I wasn't going to be able to do the session.
"So I did the practice but we were prepared to put a second driver in the worst-case scenario."
Hamilton described the qualifying session as straight-forward, as its battle for pole position was made easier following Ferraris double drop out before the final runs in Q3.
The Briton says it's the perfect way to start the weekend, as motorsport celebrates 125 years in existence and Mercedes competes in its 200th Grand Prix.
"It was a relatively straightforward session," he said. "The team did a great job in terms of timings and getting us out at the right times.
"We saw the Ferraris drop out which made it different in terms of the battle that we had at the end. But I had pretty good pace, maybe it would have been close between myself and Leclerc.
"But I was really happy from Q2 onwards. It's really great for Mercedes with the 125 years celebration this weekend, it couldn't be a better way to start the weekend."
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
M. Verstappen
C. Sainz jr
C. Leclerc
Bahrain
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
Australia
Albert Park
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
Monaco
Monte Carlo
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Austria
Red Bull Ring
United Kingdom
Silverstone
Hungary
Hungaroring
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Italy
Monza
Azerbaijan
Baku City Circuit
Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
United States of America
Circuit of the Americas
Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Brazil
Interlagos
United States of America
Las Vegas Street Circuit
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
463,502 comments on Mercedes
66 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Lewis Hamilton
601,300 comments on Mercedes 56 members have this team as their favourite Tweets about Mercedes
Replies (3)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
that would have been crazy... shame
Pistonhead
Posts: 556
Lewis awesome today, he's next level, impressive despite not being 100%
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Not really a Ham fan but his performance this season has been stellar. His performance today really showed what he's made of!