Hamilton reveals how Ferrari engineers "were scaring me" before his magical performance in qualifying

Lewis Hamilton admitted he was left genuinely surprised after securing a sensational sprint pole position for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, revealing that Ferrari had expected to suffer a huge straight-line deficit to Mercedes.

The seven-time world champion produced a superb lap to edge championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli by the narrowest of margins, giving the home crowd plenty to celebrate with an unexpected pole position for Saturday's sprint.

Hamilton had arrived at Silverstone expecting the characteristics of the new 2026 Formula 1 regulations to make the iconic circuit less enjoyable, while Ferrari's engineers had also warned him that the Scuderia would be significantly slower than Mercedes on the straights.

Instead, the reality proved very different: “I am so happy. So, so happy,” Hamilton said.

The Ferrari driver explained that both the circuit and the performance of the SF-26 exceeded his expectations.

“If you heard me in the press conference, I was like ‘the track's not going to be the same, because that's what we all thought’. And the track's still phenomenal. The track still feels great. The engine drop-off is not anywhere near what we anticipated."

Hamilton also revealed just how pessimistic Ferrari's simulations had been before qualifying.

“On top of that, yesterday they [Ferrari engineers] were scaring me. They were like, ‘you're going to be six-tenths off in a straight line to these guys’. And in the last race, we were four-tenths off in the straight line."

Given those predictions, Hamilton admitted he struggled to believe Ferrari could genuinely challenge Mercedes for pole.

“But then today all of a sudden, we're kind of there and I was like, is this real? Are they going to turn up in quali? And we were right there competing with them.

His pole position therefore came as a welcome surprise, suggesting Ferrari has made significant progress in reducing the power deficit that had hampered the team in recent races.

Hamilton also praised the relentless efforts of the engineers back at Ferrari's Maranello factory, crediting them for steadily unlocking more performance from the car after a difficult start to the new regulations.

“I always want to bring it back to everyone back at the factory, because I can't say it enough. They're just pushing. Like last year, we were kind of stuck in a rut, not a lot we could do."

“Now they're finding things, they're adding things to the car, and every single weekend, we're bringing small little bits and adding performance to this car, and it felt awesome."

Finally, Hamilton paid tribute to Silverstone itself, dismissing pre-weekend concerns that the circuit would lose its magic under the new regulations: “Silverstone – it's the best track to drive.”