© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
With Lewis Hamilton right behind Max Verstappen and with Valtteri Bottas in P3, Lewis says he expects the start of the Dutch Grand Prix to be “fun”.
Max Verstappen has taken pole at the Dutch Grand Prix only 0.038s ahead of Lewis Hamilton in P2. With Valtteri Bottas in P3, Lewis thinks strategy will come into play tomorrow.
“No doubt it’s going to be tough tomorrow,” the Briton said after qualifying.
“I think Max and his team were quicker than us on the long run, but it’s not a track that you can particularly overtake on so it’s going to be [about] strategy tomorrow and how you can utilise the tyres. The start will be fun.”
Considering Mercedes’ pace this weekend Lewis says he is happy with the result, but he believes there’s more performance to unlock.
“The [final Q3] lap… particularly the second and third sector, was really on the edge. There wasn’t any road left. So I was really, really happy with it.
“It’s great we were able to get that close because obviously they pulled quite far ahead at one point pace-wise.
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“But I still think if we had another session we’d all go quicker and I think there’s more time to find,” concluded the seven-time champion.
Bottas is also ready for him and Lewis to team up on Verstappen.
“The first run in Q3 was good, I was happy with the lap,” the Finn said.
“Felt like I got pretty much everything out of the package. The second lap was going well until Turn 11. I braked a bit too late, collected a bit of gravel in Turn 12.
“I think I got a bit too greedy towards the end of the lap but I think pole was just a little bit out of reach for me today.
“But it’s good to be in the top three and it opens up all the opportunities for teamwork,” concluded Bottas.
