LEWIS Hamilton has claimed pole position for the British GP ahead of Mercedes teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg.
But it was anything but straightforward for the home favourite despite Hamilton’s overwhelming pace advantage over Rosberg and that of the dominant Mercedes package over the distant pack.
Hamilton had to overcome Race Control wiping out his provisional pole time at the start of Q3 after the world champion transgressed the Silverstone track limits. But Hamilton, who set a new lap record for the new Silverstone configuration during Q2, immediately hit back to claim pole by almost four tenths from Rosberg.
Confusingly, Hamilton’s pole lap was allowed to stand despite the Mercedes driver once again crossing the track limits as he did so at a corner not being protected by Race Control’s ‘zero tolerance’ crackdown.
