Azerbaijan GP: Greed propelled Lewis Hamilton to 66th pole position

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton admitted on Saturday that greed almost cost him dearly before he clinched a landmark pole during qualifying for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The three-times Formula One champion pipped team-mate Valtteri Bottas to first place on the grid to secure his 66th career pole – one more than his childhood hero Ayrton Senna and two off record-holder Michael Schumacher.

It was touch and go at one stage as Hamilton trailed his teammate after running wide on turn 16, with Bottas appearing destined for pole.

“The lap before was very good until the last corner,” Hamilton told journalists in the post-qualifying press conference. “(It was) so weird that, just before going into it, I thought, ‘don’t be greedy’. Of course, I was greedy and locked up.”

A red flag prompted by Daniel Ricciardo’s collision late on in his Red Bull left Hamilton with enough time to attempt to overhaul Bottas, and in a gutsy shootout, he eventually pipped the Finn to top spot by 0.434 of a second.

“It was do or die,” Hamilton added. “If ever there was a time to be perfect, that was the time. In qualifying, sometimes you don’t extract it, but it was a perfect lap. All weekend we’ve …read more