Hamilton storms to German pole

Eurosport - Sun, 20 Jul 12:52:00 2008

Britain's Lewis Hamilton put McLaren on pole position for engine partners Mercedes's home German Grand Prix.

2008 German GP McLaren Hamilton - 0

The 23-year-old will share Sunday's front row with Ferrari's Felipe Massa, the Brazilian who is level on 48 points with Hamilton and his own world champion team mate Kimi Raikkonen at the halfway point in the season.

Raikkonen, on pole at Hockenheim for McLaren in 2005 and 2006, qualified a distant sixth for Ferrari alongside Renault's Fernando Alonso.

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen will start third, paying the price for some 'rallycross moments' in the final session, with Italian Jarno Trulli fourth for Toyota in what amounts to a second home race for the Cologne-based Japanese team.

The pole was Hamilton's third of the season and ninth in 27 Formula One starts.

"My lap was pretty smooth, you know, it was pretty easy going and I'm quite comfortable that we could have gone a little bit quicker if we needed to," said Hamilton, the runaway winner in Britain two weeks ago.

The changeable conditions and swirling wind, with the car buffeted by gusts down the back straight, made life difficult but Hamilton kept it all together to secure his first pole since Canada in June.

"I think I just collected all the little pieces that were missing," he said when asked whether he felt the season had begun to swing his way since the pre-British Grand Prix Silverstone test.

"At the test we've made a step forward with the car and that's definitely made us more competitive. I think we've improved all round."

Massa, who had a nightmare in the last race when he spun five times and finished last, saw a tough and tight race ahead between Ferrari and McLaren and shrugged off his dire Silverstone performance in the wet.

"It's not really a recovery, I know I'm quick," he said. "All my career I was quick on the wet, even in go-karts always when it rained I won."

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica qualified seventh on a disappointing afternoon for the German manufacturer, who had Nick Heidfeld back in 12th place.

Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel was the highest placed German driver with ninth place -- the 21-year-old's second top-10 grid position in a row.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, who secured Honda's first podium since 2006 at Silverstone, came back down to earth with an 18th-place slot at the circuit where he took his first Formula One victory with Ferrari in 2000.

Reuters

Comment 37 - 56 of 56

Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated
  1. come on lewis Hamilton the one and the only L.H bring F1 on other level he is a different class you jealous people L.H living his dream what about you pice off sheet.

    From jonig2005, on Sun 20 Jul 12:31PM
  2. i'm an englishman living in spain, so i don't get to listen to english commentators biggin up; LH all the time, but i'd prefere it to listning to spanish putting him down all the time,(so shut it shiela G) don't get me wrong' spain are having a fantastic era in all sports at momenr, aspecialy motorsport; but there jealous to death of lewis that Ron let him challenge Alonso. last year if all Schu's team mates hadn't been to bow to him he'd nothing of a legend now... talk about all drivers having the same car. well rookie LH had the same car as new legend to be Alonso!!!!!!!! enough said lucky 4 kimi, but dirt in the pEYElla of Alonso, big sulkin spanish wingin @#$%, COME ON LEWIS show em all your the f'in real McCoy. 10 world crowns on your mantle piece johnny U

    From johnun24, on Sun 20 Jul 11:46AM
  3. Mohamed Ally!
    Loud mouth, arrogant, played to the media, showman and tease, won fights, lost a few fights, won the world championship many times.
    Who of you would say now he was not the best or the Greatest? Yet while he was doing all this throughout his career he had those that did not like him for any of these aspects, yet you would be hard to find any boxer who does not admire him.
    So is the case for Michael Schumacher love him or hate him he is the most successful F1 driver, which is a fact and cannot be taken away from him.
    All the drivers on the track tomorrow have their own self belief, how they express themselves is in accordance to their own personality some are quiet some are not.
    You will if you look at these postings on this topic, see, by the way they are written that we are all different in our character and how we express ourselves, some of the posts get up our nose for different reasons while others see the posting as in agreement with their own views.
    The bottom line is we will all have to be in agreement when the 2008 season ends, and recognise the man with the most points as the new world champion, who ever that is!
    In the mean time we will all have to agree to disagree, but maybe a little more politely!

    From pauljgregory, on Sun 20 Jul 11:37AM
  4. I have read with interest all the above comments,.

    sadly the few things that have been omitted are the facts.
    Its the car that is the winner here ,not the person that steers it,because to me thats all they are doing..
    All the gadetry that they have ,most of which is controled from the pit wall ,anyone one with nerve and the love of speed could get used to driving a car like that..

    Today is not RACING it is a procession,When the Governing body has the Guts to get rid of a lot of technology and put a manuel gearbox back in the cars then we would see who the DRIVERS are.. Take for a simple instance ,radios.. Why on earth should a driver be told ,Oh ! look you have a car trying to pass you ,put your foot down, makes a mockery of it all.

    Okay so its all MONEY orientated ,like all sport ,but the bubble will burst ,patrons will say enough is enough ,

    From derek.phare, on Sun 20 Jul 11:03AM
  5. hamilton is a gd driver in a gd car as is kimi at ferrari im a ferrari fan but if u put people like jenson button adrain sutil in a ferrai or mclaren they would win.everyone should have the same car there should be no manufactor one set areo and one engine all the same 4 everyone then we would see who the best is

    From STEPHEN S, on Sun 20 Jul 10:41AM
  6. Kenneth O...."You can slam his 'arrogance' (same's been the fate of virtually all great men)"....has Sir Isaac Newton been arrogant??? Let me tell you a great man who wasn't arrogant and was a great champion in F1...Jim Clark. Hamilton should keep his feet on the ground.

    From teddo_doc, on Sun 20 Jul 10:04AM
  7. You people are either blind or are too fanatical about supporting Hamilton? Alonso is more arrogant than Hamilton? COME ON!!!!! Hamilton is more arrogant than Schumacher was, and that's pretty difficult. Hamilton is avery talented driver and very fast, i won't say that's not true, but he still has a LOT, BUT A LOT to learn...He;s going he same way as Schumacher did, from a nice lad to an arrogant, cocky, "I'm the best, you're the loser and I earn millions because I'm good, the best ever" guy, that's all BECAUSE OF THE MEDIA. He should keep his feet on the ground. It's really nasty when you start believe what they say about you in the press. when will you guys realize that what makes a great champion is not only his driving, but also his character???

    From teddo_doc, on Sun 20 Jul 9:59AM
  8. Could everybody please stop the skin colour comments?
    I don't give **** on the fact that LH is black. He could be yellow, green, orange or whatever, he would still be a very fast driver.
    It is not the colour, but his cockyness and greater interest in PR than in racing why a lot of peoiple don't like him (except brits, of course)

    From ioioccc, on Sun 20 Jul 8:14AM
  9. LH is the best...

    From jamie.rivera, on Sun 20 Jul 7:51AM
  10. Ok guys, these comments on formula 1 lately are really sinking into the slum of nopointness (yes, I'm aware such word doesn't exist). There's no fair play in most of them and I'm very much on my way to stop laughing about most of it. Support Ferrari, support McLaren, but have the decency please to acknowledge a great performance no matter who comes it from.
    Raikkonen ruined Sutil's race in Monaco and a small teams chance to score some historical points. THAT WAS STUPID. Hamilton ran into the back of Raikkonen in the pit-lane. EVEN MORE STUPID. But both ran fantastic races this year as well, with a bit plus to Hamilton and to the pleasantly surprising Massa, the two at some were head above the rest. He's a great talent, while at Ferrari something doesn't seem to work lately, and it's the team, not the drivers. Alonso is far too big an idiot to be even worth a comment. And where's the spark we've seen from BMW already this year?
    Finally, since Minardi has left Formula 1 and so did Super Aguri, I must support Force India now. So... GO FORCE INDIA!

    From Peter B, on Sun 20 Jul 7:37AM
  11. I would not count Farrari out tomarrow. Remember, Kimi was running away at ole' Hock and he (in the McClaren!) and BOTH times he broke down and did not finish! So Mclaren has a recent history of having a hard time finishing this race! I would not get too excited about LH. As to the one submital that said that LH has never crashed anyone out (did they SEE LH run the red light and slam Kimi?) OOOPPPSSS! LH has taken his share of people off the track! I would not be so quick to say that LH is so great. He has made several ROOKIE mistakes and they cost him the championship last year, late in the year. I look forward to Farrari winning another constructors this year! GO Massa! Kimi will be out to prove something, so look out for him to work the field. Should be interesting in the first turn! Maybe Massa and LH take each other out in the first lap and Kimi and Fernando and Kubica and Turlli fight it out for the win! That would be a cool race! Z

    From SFD Loves the Bay Area, on Sun 20 Jul 4:11AM
  12. a formula 1 driver is only as good as his car. if shcumi had won in a minardi, it would be a different story. same with hamilton, raikkonen or kubica or the rest. but this guy hamilton is overrated by the english or british press. the reason? the these guys need a story to make them happy. you see they praise hamilton like a very good or annointed driver because they have nothing good to write about their own nation. they cannot win wimbledon, they cannot even qualify in the Euro Football....

    From pio p, on Sun 20 Jul 4:06AM
  13. message to PENNO ,why is it that people like you always play the racism card ,it`s boring

    From paconet19, on Sun 20 Jul 2:41AM
  14. Hey people all racing drivers have a degree of arrogance. They're like boxers. Never say someone who you're fighting or racing is better than you. It would be seen as a sign of weakness, so get real. you may not like him, but he's a fast mother father! As for me, I think he's great. Just what the sport needs. A brutha to shake it up a bit. Later!

    From weston.foster, on Sun 20 Jul 2:11AM
  15. for me its not that i hate lewis hamilton,i jus dont like the idea that after 1 full season he is being placed as one of the best drivers of all time.i do however agree with the comment made about the comentaries during the races,they are all based upon hamilton and his progress - it would be nice to hear about all the drivers in equal measure. im not denying that hamilton is talented but so are many of the other drivers at the moment - namely Vettel and Kubica. Its brilliant for the sport and the country to have a star like hamilton, i just think that it is unfair to focus all the attention on him when some of the other drivers in the field have equal talent to him just havent been privledged to be at a large team yet.but i still think (and i was right last year) that its Kimi who is the best driver in the world at the moment.without a doubt! THE ICEMAN FOR THE TITLE :D

    From clairefisher68, on Sun 20 Jul 12:51AM
  16. uugugi

    From anna g, on Sun 20 Jul 12:13AM
  17. I must admit do not like LH he is too big for his boots no wonder he gets on so well with Ron Dennis. The commentary really gets on my nerves these days its LH this LH that. What about all the other drivers???? F1 isnt the same anymore not like in the days of Prost and Schumacher. Yes I am a FERRARI fan and proud of it. Good luck tomorrow Felipe and Kimi. No way should LH be mentioned in the same breath as Prost, Senna and Schumacher.
    As for Mosley he should be sacked!
    Sheila

    From sheila g, on Sat 19 Jul 10:45PM
  18. Come on Lewis make em have it tommorow, GO GO GO

    From Graham W, on Sat 19 Jul 10:02PM
  19. Let me ask all those who hate LH a question. Is it because of his talents or is it because of his skin colour? Schumi was a cheat during his reign - deliberately crashing into opponents, something LH has never done or even Kimi. That is what stands real winners out. Even if LH does not win this year, none of you haters can say for sure that, F1 has been the best for it thanks to a black boy wonder called Lewis Hamilton.

    From Penno, on Sat 19 Jul 10:01PM
  20. Lewis Hamilton has the one thing missing from most British sportsman and thats a killer instinct ,the ability to expose and put away your opponents ,we have seen many great british sportsman/women but it takes something xtra to be champion .Lewis clearly has that and thats why his day will come and soon he will be crowned world champion .Autralians have it in cricket ,americans in tennis thats the factor that attracts so much love/hate .the lad has a great talent and has single handerly not only been a great ambassador to the sport but an inspiration to as to what can be achieved an inspiration to youngsters to take up something other than this gangland /drug knife culture thats sweeping .The story of lewis hamilton is against all odds he made it without the gangs etc . it sends out a message dont do drugs/knives/gangs but follow your dream and not those influenced by others lesser than you .the weakest will fall .those dedicated will succeed.to anyone good luck ,work hard and rewards will come .the harder you work the greater the reward . i wish you all the best

    From bradley p, on Sat 19 Jul 9:25PM
Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account