Lewis Hamilton lost for words after 'perfect' lap

Published on Wednesday 20 July 2011 16:10

LEWIS Hamilton was left eating his words after conjuring a qualifying lap that was even a mystery to him.

After Friday's practice sessions for the German Grand Prix, Hamilton claimed he definitely could not challenge for pole after finishing a second adrift of Red Bull's Mark Webber.

So less than 24 hours later, just how the McLaren driver managed to split Webber and his team-mate Sebastian Vettel, finishing just 0.055secs adrift of the Australian, is near unfathomable.

"I'm kind of speechless," said Hamilton after clinching his first front-row start since the second race of this season in Malaysia.

"I don't know where the time came from, I really don't.

"It's great to be able to split the Red Bulls, and it's great to be ahead of the Ferraris, so I eat my words. It was as perfect as I could do it. I don't know how I could make it any more perfect. It's one of the best laps I think I've ever done in a car."

Hamilton felt after all the recent criticism of the team, yesterday's performance was an ideal riposte and it is now a question of translating his second place on the grid into a positive result.

"Fingers crossed we can have a huge one," he said. "But right now, second place has never felt so good in my life. It really feels fantastic, one of the best feelings I've had for a long time. To be honest, this is beyond my wildest expectations."

For the first time in 15 races runaway championship leader Vettel is not even on the front row.

The Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa line up fourth and fifth, with Mercedes' Nico Rosberg sixth, and Jenson Button seventh, over a second off the pace of team-mate Hamilton. Force India's Paul di Resta lines up 12th, four places behind team-mate Adrian Sutil.