BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Lewis Hamilton said his shock pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix was a case of waiting for everything to come together at the right moment in the rain.
Hamilton demonstrated his prowess in the rain in Q3, hooking together a great lap to snatch pole Mercedes position from teammate Valtteri Bottas. Mercedes had not seemed to be in the fight for pole in the dry but the sudden shower changed everything.
Reflecting on his session, Hamilton said: "I had no idea in qualifying what was going to be needed for pole position and as I went into that last lap I knew I had to put together a huge sector and really pull something special out to firstly take the Ferraris but also the cars around me. I think the car felt good and the lap started out well and as I said on the grid the tyres were cold as ever and not good for another lap but it was all about making compromises.
"Collectively I think it was a very good lap, particularly the last sector, I don't know how it is on the sector times but that is where I felt I made the difference and it was just about my patience and about positioning on the track. I couldn't be happier with it. As I said this is quite a shock really as I didn't expect to be here so I am very grateful for today."
The lap was met with an exuberant congratulatory message from race engineer Peter Bonnington and Hamilton believes that shows the passion and positivity which helped spearhead his charge for pole.
"I could hear it in Bono's voice I guess he was as nervous as everyone was. It was such a tricky session as you could see we started out with a large part of the circuit dry and making the right calls and getting the timing perfect and spot on is everything in these conditions. Maybe if you are a minute too early you get on a worse track or if you are too late and it is raining on track. It is very very difficult out there.
"When he came on the radio and said you have one lap to make the different, I think I was four-tenths behind Kimi at the time, and then Valtteri pushed ahead of me so he went on pole and then I was able to. To keep it together, everyone is just so passionate, my engineers and my mechanics, everyone is just so positive so to get a 1-2 particularly when we knew we probably would not get pole here in the dry.
"The Ferrari were just two fast so we focused on doing the best job we could and maybe lockout the second row. To have us in this position is such a blessing for all of us and we can't take the opportunity for granted as we've got a race and we need to try to keep them behind."