ISTANBUL, Turkey, CMC – British driver Lewis Hamilton says he is hoping for a repeat of last season after finishing fourth in final qualifying yesterday and claiming a share of the second row for Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old, whose paternal grandparents are Grenadian, clocked one minute, 25.595 but once again played second fiddle to the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber who shut out the front row with a one-two finish.
Vettel secured pole for the fourth successive race, timing 1:25.049 to finish ahead of Webber who came home in 1:25.454.
Last year, Hamilton won at Istanbul Park after starting second on the grid behind Webber.
“We’re definitely in the fight and I’ll be pushing all the way – just as we did last year,” said Hamilton.
“So I’ll try to get a good start tomorrow – fingers crossed we can gain some places that way. I’m looking forward to driving a strong Grand Prix. It’s a long race here and there should be opportunities to overtake.”
Hamilton enters Sunday’s race second in the drivers’ standings on 47 points, trailing leader Sebastian Vettel on 68 points.
His only win of the season came at the Chinese Grand Prix last month with Vettel capturing the other three events convincingly.
Hamilton said he was aware of the challenges that he faced, however, as he chased his second win of the new season.
“We’re starting on the dirty side of the grid – so our biggest challenge tomorrow could be getting off the line. Every year here I’ve started on the dirty side here,” he said.
“Mercedes GP and Ferrari have picked up their pace, and it might be hard to overtake the Mercedes GP because they’re very fast on the straights; so if it pans out like that, the Red Bulls could edge away from us.
“We don’t have an extra set of [unused] tyres, but you never know what the weather will do tomorrow.”
Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg will be alongside Hamilton on the second row while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Jenson Button occupy the third row.
