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Motorsport

Ronald Vording

"They scared me yesterday" – Lewis Hamilton expected Ferrari to be six tenths off at Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Silverstone Mercedes Red Bull British Grand Prix the British Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari's predictions "scared" him about being "six tenths off" down Silverstone's straights, before taking a surprise British Grand Prix sprint race pole position.

During Thursday's media day for the British Grand Prix, and even after this weekend's sole practice session, Ferrari kept expectations firmly in check.

With nine victories at Silverstone, Hamilton knows better than anyone what it takes to be competitive around the iconic circuit – and revealed that Ferrari engineers had relied even more heavily than usual on his feedback – but he simply expected to lack the power needed to fight at the front.

In reality, the picture turned out to be far more encouraging than anticipated. Hamilton topped the timesheets after first practice and then delivered once again in sprint qualifying, edging out Kimi Antonelli by just 0.011 seconds.

"Yesterday they all scared me, they were like, we’re going to be six tenths off in a straight line to these guys. And in the last race we really were four tenths off in a straight line," Hamilton said after securing his first sprint pole since China last year, referring to Ferrari's straight-line deficit in Austria.

"But today all of a sudden we’re kind of there. I was like, is this real, are they going to turn it up in qualifying? But we are right there competing with them."

According to Hamilton, it mainly underlines the progress Ferrari continues to make in Maranello.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari (Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images)

"I always want to bring it back to everyone back in the factory," he said. "I can’t say it enough, they’re just pushing. Last year we were kind of stuck in a rut, there was not a lot we could do. But now they’re finding things, and they’re adding things to the car.

"Every single weekend we’re bringing small little bits and adding performance to this car. This weekend it just felt awesome, and this track, Silverstone is the best track to drive."

Heading into the weekend, Hamilton had shared the same concerns as the rest of the grid regarding energy management.

Silverstone was expected to be particularly challenging in terms of energy management, but according to the Ferrari driver the situation proved far less severe than anticipated.

"Even if you heard me in the press conference, I was like 'the track is not going to be the same'," he said.

"That’s what we all thought, but the track is still phenomenal, the track still feels great. The engine drop-off is not anywhere near what we anticipated."

Team-mate Charles Leclerc endured another difficult sprint qualifying, but he too admitted he was pleasantly surprised by just how competitive Ferrari appeared to be on one of the calendar's most power-sensitive circuits.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari (Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images)

"We are extremely surprised with Lewis taking the pole today, but in general we were expecting a much bigger gap to the cars in front," the Monegasque said.

"It’s a good step forward, but yeah, as a team we are just very, very surprised to be that competitive on a track like this."

Hamilton happy with "great" long runs, but wary of slipstream effect

Even so, Hamilton is not getting carried away when it comes to his chances in the sprint race itself.

Although he was pleased with Ferrari's long-run pace on Friday, he remains wary of the power advantage Mercedes and Red Bull enjoy, according to him, especially with the added effect of slipstreaming.

"I have to look at the long run pace first, but the car felt great on the long runs, to be honest. It’s going to be tough, obviously these guys are very, very close, but I don’t think it’s impossible," he said.

"We’re in a great position, but obviously there is a lot of towing that can be done through the first laps, which won’t make it easy to keep the Mercedes or a Red Bull engine behind.

"But I’ll give it absolutely everything for these fans."