Lewis Hamilton admits he is ‘gutted’ with qualifying in fifth for British Grand Prix

Hamilton – an eight-time winner at Silverstone – could qualify only fifth ahead of Sunday’s race

(Getty Images)

Lewis Hamilton admitted he was “gutted” that he could only qualify in fifth for the British Grand Prix after a chaotic qualifying session in the rain.

The seven-time world champion had shown promise in a highly upgraded Mercedes car on Friday and, having won eight times at Silverstone, he would have hoped for a place close to the front row of the grid as the elements played their part yesterday afternoon.

But the 37-year-old could only put his car on the third row and revealed his disappointment after showing signs of general improvement over the weekend, insisting he was “gunning for second at least”.

“From fifth is going to be tough,” he said.

“But I’m going to try to make my way forwards. I’m a little bit gutted really because we have a great crowd here and I was pushing so hard to get on the front row and fight for pole position today.

“I think we could have been in the top three; I was gunning for second at least. To end up fifth makes tomorrow tough, but I’ve got this amazing crowd with me tomorrow so I’ll try to push forwards.”

Hamilton’s teammate George Russell, meanwhile, could fare no better and qualified three places back in eighth, explaining afterwards that he made a mistake on his final flying lap.

It was ultimately a disappointing qualifying session for both Mercedes drivers (Getty Images)

“A little bit disappointing, but there definitely is promise there,” he said.

“Starting down in P8 is not going to be an easy task. I want to get past Lando and Alonso as soon as possible and try to join the fight at the front. I think there’s no reason why we can’t be in that fight.

“Based on pure pace there’s no reason why we can’t fight for a podium. But starting down in P8 is not where we want to be.”