F1 | Mercedes, Hamilton: “It will be a race to be played!”

Lewis Hamilton had to settle for second place on the starting grid after qualifying for the Eifel Grand Prix. At the Nurburgring the British champion was beaten by Valtteri Bottas, in his fourteenth career pole position. For the Mercedes driver the day had started quite well, but the rises of his teammate and Verstappen have somewhat called into question his dominance in Germany, where he wants to reach Michael Schumacher's number of victories in Formula 1.

“This circuit is fantastic, and it's great to be back here, but it wasn't my day – Hamilton said. The car in Q2 looked good, but in the last session I lost a bit of pace, so we'll look at all the data to see where I could have done more. Congratulations to Valtteri, he did a great job, but I think there will be many opportunities tomorrow, we will have to see what happens with the weather and temperatures. The behavior of the tires will be fundamental, as will the start and any Safety Cars. It's still all to play for, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Tonight I'll make sure I'm in the best shape possible."