Mercedes chief calls Lewis Hamilton a ‘savvy operator’ after stunning British GP Sprint pole

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Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord has labelled Lewis Hamilton a ‘savvy operator’ after the Ferrari driver secured Sprint pole at the British Grand Prix.

On Friday afternoon, under the beaming sun at the iconic Silverstone Circuit, it was Ferrari superstar Hamilton who grabbed all the headlines.

Hamilton went quickest in FP1, finishing the session ahead of Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

Although many people, including Hamilton himself, expected Ferrari to struggle around the power-reliant Silverstone Circuit, the SF-26 came to life again during Sprint qualifying.

Having topped SQ1 and SQ2, Hamilton went into SQ3 with a genuine chance of securing Sprint pole.

In the end, Hamilton did secure Sprint pole, as his best lap time of 1:28.376 was enough to beat Antonelli by a mere 0.011 seconds. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third, with Leclerc in fourth place.

Who will be Lewis Hamilton’s biggest competition for the British GP Sprint race win?

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Bradley Lord calls Lewis Hamilton a ‘savvy operator’ after British GP Sprint pole

During the aftermath of the session, Mercedes deputy team principal Lord was speaking to reporter Ted Kravitz on Sky Sports F1. 

When asked about Hamilton’s comments earlier in the week about Ferrari not being able to challenge at the front at Silverstone, Lord called the 41-year-old a ‘savvy operator’.

Hamilton had mentioned on numerous occasions that the SF-26 would struggle on the straights against Mercedes; however, Sprint qualifying proved to Lord that the Scuderia are well in the fight.

Lord said: “I was going to say, Lewis has been doing interviews a lot longer than I have, and he’s a pretty savvy operator, isn’t he? So, yeah, they didn’t look too bad down the straights today, that’s for sure.”

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton takes British GP Sprint pole ahead of Kimi Antonelli as George Russell struggles

While Hamilton and Antonelli battled for Sprint pole at Silverstone, it was another tough session for George Russell, who ended the session in fifth place.

Russell, 28, arrived at the British Grand Prix weekend looking to make it back-to-back victories after winning in Austria last time out.

However, the Brit, despite being cheered on by the home crowd, struggled to bring the best out of his Mercedes.

Bradley Lord admits George Russell is lacking in confidence at Silverstone

Speaking on the back of Sprint qualifying, Lord admitted that Russell is currently lacking in confidence and was also missing tyre grip out on track.

Lord stated that Russell was struggling to get his tyres into the right temperatures but remained hopeful that he can turn things around in the remainder of the weekend.

He said: “George, he was just a little bit, I think, behind the curve, struggling for confidence and grip in those early stages, and so, again, did a great job to get it up to P5.

“Obviously, after tomorrow’s sprint, we’ve got a chance to improve things and see what we can do in Quali main race.

“I think the tyres were cool starting the lap, so we had to coach him through more energy into the tyres.

“I think the guys had talked about it before the session, and then just seeing exactly where we need to land the tyre temperatures, because if you open the lap well, then it flows from there.

“I think he said the same last week in Austria, that get one right, and then it just sort of feels like it just unfolds from that point, so that was really the key thing.”