‘P4 has never felt so good!’: Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton celebrates his best qualifying result of ‘really difficult’ 2022 as he qualifies on the second row for the Canadian Grand Prix
- Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton qualified in P4 for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix
- This is the British seven-time champion’s best qualifying result of the season
- Hamilton has struggled at times this season with porpoising in his Mercedes
- He even claimed that he has ‘shrunk an inch’ as a result of the bouncing effect
- Red Bull’s Max Verstappen takes pole, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso starts second
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton qualified in P4 ahead of Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal with a time of 1:22.891.
Hamilton recorded his best qualifying performance of the season on Saturday to secure a spot on the second row of the grid.
However, the seven-time World Champion refrained from being drawn into too much optimism, having struggled with his Mercedes at times in what has been a ‘really hard year’.
British driver Lewis Hamilton finished fourth – his best qualifying performance of the season
He told Sky Sports: ‘Honestly I feel amazing, I’m so happy. P4 has never felt so good if I’m being honest – maybe when I was in my first year of racing – particularly because it’s been a really, really difficult year.
‘We went two different directions with the car yesterday just to try and get the information. George’s way happened to be a lot better, so the car didn’t feel that great through a lot of that session.
‘With this car you need everything and more to come together. I like to think that I have rhythm and at this track you need to have rhythm, but I feel like this car runs on a completely different beat.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton has only finished on the podium once this season
‘The rain always opens up opportunity and I love this track but it’s been a struggle so far this weekend and there’s still a lot of work to do.’
Having spent a long time working on their ongoing performance issues, Mercedes will be ecstatic with a second row qualification.
And Hamilton was hopeful of at least holding position in Sunday’s race after an impressive display at the wheel of a stubborn and brutish car that he has struggled to master.
Max Verstappen overcame tricky conditions to take pole position in Montreal for the race
He will be joined on the front row by 40-year-old double world champion Fernando Alonso
The pair shared a warm embrace after the qualifying session ahead of tomorrow’s showdown
George Russell’s eighth place start will further dampen the German team’s jubilation though, after the British driver spun close to the end of the session having taken a gamble on dry-ground slick tyres.
Hamilton is joined on the grid by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, whose team-mate Charles Leclerc will start the race from the back of the grid after taking a new engine.
Max Verstappen continued his dominant form by taking pole position, but is joined at the front of the grid, perhaps surprisingly, by Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, who was 0.645 seconds short of the Dutchman.
Carlos Sainz secured third place ahead of Sunday’s race after he made a mistake on his last lap