Lewis Hamilton is happy with what he described as ‘an awesome weekend’e so far in Abu Dhabi after claiming his 61st pole position for the title decider.
In what could be a decisive lap by Hamilton to move ever closer to the top of the all-time pole position records, the reigning world champion is doing all he can to give himself the best chance to fight for a fourth world title on Sunday.
Having the pace of teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg all through the qualifying session will no doubt boost his confidence ahead of the final race of the season.
“It’s been an awesome weekend so far,” he said. “It’s rare that you end almost every session on top, so I’m very, very happy, with that.
“It’s down to the hard work done by the mechanics and the engineers to get the car where I need it, so I’m grateful to them for that, as always.
“I felt so great out there tonight. It’s really sad that this is the last Qualifying session we’re going to do in this car! It’s a dream for any driver to have something this good to drive.”
Rosberg will start alongside Hamilton on the front row, however, the Briton has been doing his homework ahead of the race start on Sunday to help with what has been a troubling area for Mercedes through the 2016 season.
“I’ve been doing my practice starts from the pole slot all weekend as I wasn’t planning on being anywhere else for tomorrow,” he proclaimed.
“I came here knowing that was a big part of what I needed this weekend and, now I’ve got that, I can focus on the race.
“Getting away in front will be the next important step. You need a big pace delta to overtake here, so the start will be crucial.”
Hamilton is also aware, however, that with his teammate alongside, he needs something unexpected if he is to leave Yas Marina as the 2016 world champion.
“You never know what might get thrown into the mix,” he said. “I’m just hoping my car is as beautiful as it has been so far this weekend and aiming for the win.”
