F1 ace shatters records en route to racing history

·Sports Reporter

2 August 2020 at 1:14 am·2-min read

Lewis Hamilton is pictured getting out of his car after qualifying on pole position at the British Grand Prix. — Lewis Hamilton smashed the lap record at Silverstone on his way to pole position, the seventh time he's achieved the feat at the British Grand Prix and the 91st time he's started from pole in F1. (Photo by Will Oliver/Pool via Getty Images)

Lewis Hamilton shattered the lap record at British Grand Prix venue Silverstone on his way to his 91st Formula One pole position.

The Mercedes driver had a spin in the second qualifying session and hadn’t topped the timesheets in any of the three practice sessions prior - but found another gear in the final qualifying session, setting the two fastest times of the session.

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His final lap - a 1:24.303 - was three tenths quicker than his nearest rival.

Teammate Valtteri Bottas was second on the grid, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen trailed just over a second behind Hamilton’s best lap in third.

Hamilton’s latest pole position helped him claim the record for the most pole positions by any driver at their home grand prix - his seventh start from the front of the grid at Silverstone bringing him past F1 legend Ayrton Senna, who took pole at his home Brazilian GP six times.

The six-time F1 champion said teammate Bottas had pushed him all the way for pole position.

“Valtteri was pushing me right to the end. It was a real struggle out there,” Hamilton said.

“We had that spin. I was struggling through the first section. I managed to compose myself.

“The first Q3 lap was clean and the second was even better”

Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo put his Renault eighth on the grid, one spot ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon.

Daniel Ricciardo caught out by chassis fracture

Renault had to break an overnight curfew to fix Daniel Ricciardo's car ahead of final practice and qualifying for the British Grand Prix.

The team said they had detected a hairline fracture on the chassis after Friday's two practice sessions at Silverstone and the Australian will have a new chassis for the rest of the weekend.

Daniel Ricciardo is pictured driving his Renault F1 car in qualifying for the British GP. — Aussie driver Daniel Ricciardo was able to put his Renault eighth on the grid for the British Grand Prix, one place ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon. (Photo by Frank Augstein/Pool via Getty Images)

No action was taken by stewards because the curfew breach was the first of two allowed under the rules and Ricciardo faces no penalty.

Their hard work paid off, with both Renaults making it into the top 10 - beating out Red Bull’s Alexander Albon and the Racing Poinnt of Niko Hulkenberg, who is filling in for Sergio Perez, after the Mexican driver returned a positive COVID-19 test.