‘Is this real?’ - Lewis Hamilton questioned Ferrari’s surprising Silverstone pace at F1 British GP

Lewis Hamilton admitted he questioned whether Ferrari’s surprising pace was “real” before taking Formula 1 pole position for the British Grand Prix sprint race. 

Seven-time world champion Hamilton, who is a record nine-time winner of his home race at Silverstone, snatched pole away from championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli by just 0.011 seconds with a last-gasp effort in a thrilling sprint qualifying. 

Hamilton was on scintillating form on Friday and topped every session at the Northamptonshire track, much to the delight of the 150,000-strong crowd. 

“I am so happy. So, so happy,” Hamilton said. “If you heard me in the press conference, I was like ‘the track's not going to be the same, because we that's what we all thought’. And the track's still phenomenal. The track still feels great. The engine drop-off is not anywhere near what we anticipated.

“On top of that, yesterday they [Ferrari’s engineers] were scaring me. They were like, ‘you're going to be six-tenths off in a straight line to these guys’. And in the last race, we were four-tenths off in in the straight line.

“But then today all of a sudden, we're kind of there and I was like, is this real? Are they  [Mercedes] going to turn up in quali? And we were right there competing with them. 

“I always want to bring it back to everyone back at the factory, because I can't say it enough. they’re just pushing. Like last year, we were kind of stuck in a rut, not a lot we could do. 

“Now they're finding things, they're adding things to the car, and every single weekend, we're bringing small little bits and and adding performance to this car, and it felt awesome. Silverstone - it’s the best track to drive.” 

Asked whether he thinks Ferrari’s one-lap pace can translate into the sprint race on Saturday, Hamilton replied: "I think our pace was good. It was a short-ish long run in FP1; there was not a lot of time. But the car felt good there, so yeah, I think we should have a good race tomorrow.

"And from the front - I don't remember the last time I started from the front row! It's not so easy when you've got these guys who can follow and be close with the extra power potentially. I'll do my best to keep them behind.”

Eight points are up for grabs for the winner of Saturday’s 17-lap sprint race. Hamilton is currently third in the drivers’ championship, 46 points behind Antonelli.