Lewis Hamilton once again pulled it out of the bag! The 7-time world champion finished the French Grand Prix in P4 ahead of his teammate George Russell and just behind Sergio Perez.
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Mercedes did not have the fastest car on the track in qualifying and was struggling to keep up with the frontrunners. At one point, they were outside the Top-10 in Q2 but managed to scrape through.
After the session was over, Hamilton was appreciative of the efforts put in by the team and congratulated them on the radio in his in-lap.
“Well done, lads. I gave it everything,” said Hamilton. “It’s all we ever ask, Lewis. But yeah, reasonable job today with the kit we got but yeah, looking forward to tomorrow!” replied his race engineer.
F1 fans celebrate unexpected Hamilton success
While Lewis Hamilton celebrated his quali results, F1 Twitter had its own festivities. Hamilton’s results had soon taken over the internet. Fans celebrated the new Mercedes upgrades as the P5 result took the F1 world by storm.
P4 is the best Position you can have with this car. The next few Years Mercedes will not be able to close the gap to Ferrari and Redbull.
— Marc (@73marc) July 23, 2022
Congratulations @Charles_Leclerc… Monster lap to grab pole@Carlossainz55 played his part beautifully.
My G.O.A.T @LewisHamilton starting on the second row…
Tomorrow will be fun #FrenchGrandPrix pic.twitter.com/lywgXOj8I3
— Eddy Mwanzä (@mwanzaholic) July 23, 2022
Sir Lewis his winning this race… #FrenchGP
— Kabelo Moche (@KabeloMoche_) July 23, 2022
Great efforts today 🙏
— David Hogg (@ds_hogg) July 23, 2022
Lewis Hamilton win 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️
— Kyago🇺🇬 (@Paul8genius) July 23, 2022
P4 IS THE NEW POLE POSITION FOR MERCEDES SO LEWIS HAMILTON ON POLEpic.twitter.com/gK8JMYDOwb
— ★ (@dearlews) July 23, 2022
READ MORE: Why do Mercedes dominate F1?
It would be fascinating to see how the British driver goes in the race. The P4 result, although a present surprise, could easily turn the tables for the F1 champion on Sunday. Additionally, after the FP2 session yesterday, he was not too upbeat.
Lewis Hamilton analyzes his performance on Friday
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There were a lot of expectations of Hamilton and Mercedes going into the weekend as they brought in new upgrades. But the upgrades and the performance left the Mercedes driver disappointed after the Friday pace.
“We’re a little bit further behind than we anticipated this weekend. We have a lot of work to do, a lot of ground to cover still. The car is not spectacular here, I don’t know why, but overnight we usually make a bit of a step, so I’m hoping that’s the case tomorrow,” said the 7-time world champion.
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But he would be confident starting the race from the second row. Hamilton would like to make a good start so that he can challenge the frontrunners and get himself in podium contention.