Mercedes F1 driver Lewis Hamilton urged for more tyre management ahead of 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone as he fears his tyres could explode again if he pushes them at the iconic circuit.
Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas saw his tyre deflate two laps before the finish at the British Grand Prix last week and the same fate awaited the Brit on the final lap.
Hamilton somehow managed to drag the car over the line, as sparks kept flying underneath his vehicle, just five seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Before the tyre mishap, Hamilton held a 32-second lead over the Belgian-Dutch racer, going into the final lap.
“I honestly haven’t even looked into a race scenario with the soft tyres so I don’t really know,” Hamilton told reporters as per Daily Mail.
“I would imagine there’s going to be some sort of management. We don’t want to push these things because they might explode,” he added.
Hamilton, meanwhile, will be starting at second place on the grid as teammate Bottas took the pole position at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
Bottas managed a time of 1:25.154 while Hamilton was marginally behind him with 1:25.217. Racing Points’ Nico Hulkenberg did a time of 1:26.082, beating his teammate Lance Stroll in all segments of qualifying. Stroll finished sixth with a time of 1:27.187.
For Bottas, this is the 13th pole position as he gets some much-needed momentum in the fight for the Championship. The Finn has won the last two races he has started from P1.
