Hamilton ‘never had this kind of car performance’

2014 Spanish Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton paid tribute to the performance of his Mercedes after taking pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix, saying, he’s never had a car this competitive before.

“Coming here this weekend we obviously didn’t know where everyone was going to be,” said Hamilton after qualifying. “So to see the development that’s gone on and the hard work that’s gone into getting our car ready for this week, it inspires me.”

“So a really big thank you to the team. To have the kind of performance we have, I’ve never really known that before.”

Hamilton was quickest in both of yesterday’s practice sessions but team mate Nico Rosberg ran him close for pole position.

“It’s been a tough day and Nico has been driving really well through P3 and also through qualifying,” said Hamilton, “so I didn’t know whether I’d be able to get it”.

“But right at the end I had to just eke out absolutely everything and more from the car.”

Hamilton said his car was a “nightmare” to drive during Q1. “It’s very difficult out there, the track conditions are pretty poor,” he said. “But I’m overwhelmed, I’m so happy to have had that.”

“I lost a bit of pace today and so really even happier knowing I dropped a bit of pace but was able to get back at the front,” Hamilton added.

2014 Spanish Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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34 comments on “Hamilton ‘never had this kind of car performance’”

  1. the domination is getting worse than rbr’s….

    2 seconds ahead……………

    1. At least Rosberg is pushing Hamilton all the way

      1. @raceprouk Keep believing that.

        1. Could have sworn I saw Rosberg top of the championship table last time I looked. Must be imagining it, along with the battling at Bahrain and Rosberg being quicker in P3, Q1 and Q2 today.

          1. omarr-pepper
            10th May 2014, 17:14

            Battle that was generated by a safety car, so it wasn’t a “natural battle”.

          2. omarr-pepper
            10th May 2014, 17:15

            and let me add, Ham had the pole in Australia but his car glitched, while Rosberg hasn’t had any “tough luck” yet.

          3. Nico’s telemetry dropped off at China I believe. This would have made sorting out the car during the race a little more difficult, especially with respect to the ‘tire metrics.’

          4. Yes, such great battling at Bahrain. If not for the SC, Rosberg wouldnt have come close of Hamilton. And despite having DRS and better tyres, he was unable to take 1st place in several laps.

  2. Rosberg- I really hate comming 2nd to Lewis

    Hamilton- Yes we new that already

    Rosberg- i was only answering a question.

    This is great.

    1. I hadn’t heard Lewis’s response, funny indeed! It’s exactly what I thought reading about Nico’s comment – yes, you’ve already said that. Lewis has a point: what’s the point of repeating that he hates coming second to him? It’s turning a friendly rivalry into a personal grudge, and Nico has no cause to make it a grudge. Time to shut up and prove he’s better on the track, or accept second place with good grace.

      1. In defense of Nico, it might be pretty hard not to repeat oneself when repeatedly being asked the same questions by journalists or finding oneself in the same situation. Also, if he stated “I love comming 2nd to Lewis”, that would sound odd.

        1. @crammond

          Not atall the question he was asked was not do you like to finish 2nd. Nico is acting like a baby. Who can forget his “guaranteed win prediction” after Bahrain. Lewis should be one annoyed lol all his effort yet still 2nd.

          1. Well, NR (aka Britney) is being NR (aka Britney), of course. But whether you like him or not, there probably ain´t no chance to complete this season without repeating that same sentence another couple of times again. As he is finishing 2nd to Lewis, and he is obliged to talk to media as a main part of his job, how should he do that without lying?

        2. True, but as Lewis found out long ago, challenging for the title means that the media will pick up much more on all and any little comment: his ‘I don’t like coming second place to him’ stuck in people’s minds and he has to be prepared now to fend off these questions, designed to irritate and provoke a juicy comment or two.

    2. I’m sorry, my account glitched enormously. So I deleted it and made another one.

  3. The brief handshake, the somehow cold, keep my joy for myself-attitude at the photo shoot, the cheecky comment from HAM in the PC, everything is pointing that the psychological war between the Merc pair is in full flare. Toto and Niki can forget about any possible team-orders, we have a 2007-style intra-team battle again. This shoud be good…>)

    1. @klaas As soon as we have a Turkey 2010 between the Merc boys teamorders will soon take place.

      1. It shouldn’t be necessary. The Constructors Championship is sure to be wrapped up with 6 races to go or so. After that, it will only be about who of the two can come up on top.

  4. I’m not convinced anyone has ever had a car this dominant. I was looking at the gaps the 2002 Ferrari and 1998 McLaren had, and they weren’t as big as what the Merc is showing at the moment.

    1. 1988 even.

      1. @textuality McLaren were three seconds quicker on some circuits in 1988.

        1. Guess I should have checked more races!

    2. Williams 1992/1993 was sometimes 2s a lap quicker than the best of the rest, it was Senna’s impressive drives in special circumstances that spiced up the show like Monaco 1992 , Donington 1993, Interlagos 1993..

    3. Exactly what I was thinking.

      Some people still consider JB as an “unworthy” champion because the Brawn was so good at the beginning of 2009, I wonder if that will happen to LH too… (If he goes on to be champion that is…)

      1. @gwenouille considering HAM already has 1 championship under his belt, I’m not sure if he will have that stigma against him in future.

  5. So, when Ham wins the WDC this year do we simply attribute it to his car and not his skill?

    1. Always a fine balance..but beating your team mate who is also a top driver, in the same machine is skill and talent

      1. Is that the subtle hint at Webber not “having the same car.” instead of just not being able to drive and setup a modern F1 car as good?

      2. Webber > Rosberg as was proven conclusively in 2006

        1. Rosberg was a raw 20 years old, Webber at his prime.. Rosberg was the one kept on.

    2. Yes. Just like we do with Vettel, who did the same thing at least 3 times and sharing the machine with a guy who couldn’t even make good clean starts.

    3. The driver in the best car should always win. Even with button he still managed to win while he had the best car. Same with vettel. Then you have barrichello and webber who achieved very little compared to the other two in the best cars.

  6. HAM always goes for cliche’s in his responses, not unlike most other drivers, so its sometimes hard to read too much into any comments. However, I’m starting to see a pattern of comments about how happy with the car he is, and that he is really enjoying the performance, that in contrast to Nico who keeps talking about HAM, I’m starting to see who has the upper hand quite clearly.

  7. Anthony Okubalu
    11th May 2014, 9:31

    Watching this 2 great drivers race is always a great fun. Quite contrary to watching Vettle dismantling Webber as a no body and a novice. Rosborg should stop whinging and get on with the job. The only way I see him winning this Championship is only if Hamiltons unlucky menace clips in again to hurt him, otherwise he has so far driven to perfection that has not been seen in F1 since Ayton senna’s. He’s untouchable and simply the best!

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