A “gutted” Lewis Hamilton said he had set his sights on pole position in qualifying for the British Grand Prix only to have to make do with fifth.
In the latter stages of the the third qualifying session, he had been running as high as second with the prospect of a first front-row start of the season.
But he was swallowed up by polesitter Carlos Sainz and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, as well as the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
“I’m a bit gutted,” said Hamilton afterwards. “Just such a great crowd and I was fighting so hard for pole and the front row.
“In the dry I don’t think we could compete for the top three. In the rain, we had a chance today. But from fifth it’s going to be tough but I’m going to work to push myself forward.”
Mercedes had come to Silverstone with major upgrades throughout the car, giving them hope of closing the gap on the frontrunning Red Bull and Ferrari.
Of the upgrades, Hamilton said: “There was definitely an improvement. We seem to have closed up a little bit.”
Hamilton’s teammate George Russell described himself as “disappointed” after qualifying in eighth place.
But looking ahead to the race, he said: “There’s promise there. The pace in the dry looked really strong and our pace in the dry would be on par with the guys in front. Starting P8 isn’t going to be an easy one. Being down in P8 is not where we want to be.”
