Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMercedes

Hamilton wary of being jumped at start

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Lewis Hamilton is wary pole position holds little value if he fails to retain the lead at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Securing pole position at Spa-Francorchamps was Hamilton's sixth success in a row, but poor starts in both Silverstone and Hungary saw him lose the advantage by Turn 1. With a long run out of the first corner until the braking point at Les Combes, Hamilton says he is aware of the need to convert his lead on Sunday.

“I’m really happy today with the performance of the car and so far this weekend the performance of the team," Hamilton said. "They’ve done a really fantastic job and the car has been feeling great on this circuit, and this is a circuit where if you can get the right balance it’s definitely one of the most fun to drive.

“Of course I’m very conscious that pole position is a great thing to have but it’s a long race and it’s a long, long stretch down to Turn 5. I’m just happy with today. My goal today was to get pole position and in qualifying Nico [Rosberg] was very close.

"My last two laps were the best two laps I’ve had all weekend so I’m very, very happy with them. Again I’m just really grateful for the big effort, big push that the team continue to put in to give us the car that we have.”

And Hamilton says Mercedes is well prepared for the change in start regulations on Sunday.

“Well the team have done a lot of analysis and I’ve been in the factory - the same as Nico - practicing and getting ready in the simulator. Then all this weekend we have been working on it, so we are as prepared as we can possibly be. I think we feel relatively good about it, it should be the same for everyone and I hope that it’s good; I hope that it provides an exciting start for the fans to watch.”

Click here for a gallery of the biggest crashes at Spa-Francorchamps

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.