Hamilton still dreaming of podium at Silverstone as he hails ‘better’ feeling in car during Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton was left satisfied with a “better” feeling Ferrari in Qualifying for the British Grand Prix, with the seven-time World Champion not giving up on a podium after taking P5 despite earlier looking to be in the fight for pole.

After hinting at good pace earlier in the weekend – having set the pace in the weekend’s opening practice session – Hamilton followed this up by going fastest during Q2, sparking celebratory scenes amongst his fans in the crowd.

The Briton went on to claim P2 during the first runs of Q3 but was not able to improve, leaving him in a final position of fifth.

Reflecting back on his final effort, Hamilton said: “The lap was pretty decent at the end and then I lost a bit of time in the last corner, which probably would have put me on the front row or at least third.

“We were right on the knife edge I think, other than that squeezed everything I could out the car.”

Pushed on whether he is taking the positives from being in the position to fight again as he continues to adapt to the SF-25, the 40-year-old responded: “I definitely feel a lot better in the car this weekend.

“This track is incredible, the crowd’s been amazing but we needed just a little bit more, like another tenth of performance in the car just to nudge us a little bit closer to the front guys.”

And while he is not starting as far up the order as he might have liked, Hamilton has not given up on dreaming of a podium at his home event.

“Of course, I’ll dream of it tonight and I’ll try and execute tomorrow,” he explained. “I think the weather’s going to be interesting, I’d imagine it’s dry probably for the race but it would be cool if it’s drizzling or… yeah, we’ll see.”

Team mate Charles Leclerc had also looked strong during the early stages of Qualifying but, like Hamilton, did not put his final lap together perfectly and wound up in P6.

Asked if he had been left frustrated by the session, the Monegasque conceded: “Yeah, horrible. Nothing really to say, I think the pace was there for the front row but I eventually didn’t do the job when I needed to. I lost the car in the last two corners and lost a lot of lap time.

“That’s been the story of the season, I need to find back my rhythm in Qualifying because I’m really struggling and I’m not putting everything together, and all the time I get out of the car there’s always one thing that hasn’t gone my way in Qualifying, so I’m very frustrated with myself more than anything.

“I know that in the race I’m doing a really good job generally, but I’ve got to put everything together.”

In terms of whether he still has a good race car for the main event – with Ferrari often faring better in race trim than Qualifying form – a downbeat Leclerc added: “As always yes, but when you are starting P6 then it’s going to be very difficult.”