F1 News
Hamilton wasn't expecting to be challenging for pole
Lewis Hamilton may have stormed to pole position for the German Grand Prix but the Brit has expressed his surprise after almost pulling out of the race with illness.
Hamilton topped the timesheets in qualifying to take another pole position ahead of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas. However, things could have been very different as it was revealed Esteban Ocon was being prepared in case the five-time World Champion had to pull out with illness which had worsened overnight.
Despite the setback, the Brit took pole position for the race at the Hockenheimring but even Hamilton admitted he wasn't expecting it.
"I was really not expecting to be able to fight for pole today," Hamilton said as quoted by BBC Sport.
"I felt pretty bad this morning and there was a moment when we weren't even sure we would be doing the weekend.
"But I have never missed a race weekend in my life and for us competitors you can't miss a single race.
"I haven't even been in most of the [engineering] meetings; I've just been sleeping and then waking up and getting in the car.
"But the team have done such a great job in terms of the processes we went through and I was really happy with the car in my last lap."