Lewis Hamilton says he was so confident he would beat Nico Rosberg to pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix he saved his engine during qualifying.
The defending champion outqualified his team-mate by 0.3s on Saturday to take a crucial pole position as he looks to overturn a 12-point deficit to Rosberg in the title decider. Hamilton was quickest in all three parts of qualifying and says his pace early on led to him not using a more aggressive engine setting in order to look after his power unit following a number of reliability issues this year.
“That’s the same in every session, you want to get pole and that speaks for itself,” Hamilton said. “There was a moment when I would normally go to a certain engine setting, but from my pace in the first run I was so comfortable that I knew I didn’t have to go the setting Nico went to and I was quicker again in Q2. That’s a positive thing, but otherwise it was about going out there and being as quick as possible without wasting energy. So I saved a lap.”
Referencing Rosberg’s mindset ahead of the race, Hamilton says mental strength could play a factor in today’s grand prix.
“It depends. I think Nico is really trying to focus on approaching it the same as he has approached every single race, which is telling of his thought process.
“For me, I’ve not been thinking about the championship. Obviously I know what I’ve got to do, but I’ve been solely focusing on trying to do my best every time I have been in a car. Somehow I’ve really managed to get a really good click and managed to back to that good spot that I’ve been in after all the engine issues.
“In terms of the race, I’m just going to drive my heart out as I do every single race.”
And Hamilton says he didn’t contemplate anything other than securing pole position, having been preparing to line up at the front of the grid throughout the weekend.
“Yeah, all my starts I did from pole. I was planning on getting there, so there was no preparation in case I got second and had to start from second place. I was determined like you couldn’t imagine. We got a lot of good information, so we are as well prepared as we can be.”
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