Hamilton undone by McLaren's weather men

Not for the first time - and probably not the last - Lewis Hamilton's qualifying quest was damaged by his team's inability to read the weather

In Q1, with the rain coming down harder and harder, McLaren for some reason opted to send Hamilton out on a fresh set of option tyres. The end result was one dismal lap, a return to the pits and a waste of a set of tyres.

This move effectively damaged Hamilton's chances of securing a solid qualifying position as in Q3, when he needed fresh tyres, he was forced to do his first run on a used set.

And when he did finally head out on a new set of options for his last attempt the rain once again came down.

The Brit qualified P10 for his home grand prix at Silverstone, 1.977s behind pole-sitter Mark Webber.

"I enjoyed the changeable weather conditions today, but it's disappointing to have ended up so far behind," the 2008 World Champ said.

"For Q3, we fitted a used set of Options for our first run when the others ran new tyres, and that hurt our performance.

"Then, when we fitted new tyres for the final run, it started raining so I couldn't improve my time."

Hamilton, though, is hoping for a better showing on Sunday afternoon, confident he can make up ground on those ahead of him. However, he admits a bit of rain would help.

"I think there are a couple of guys in front of me who ought to be slower than me, so I'll do my best to make progress in the early laps even though overtaking here is difficult.

"I hope we can still have an exciting race, but it'll be tricky.

"I guess I'll be hoping for rain tomorrow to increase my chances of getting a good result.

"Nevertheless, the fans here are the best in the world - they're sensational in fact - and they'll spur me on in the race. I really hope I can do something special for them tomorrow."

Source: Planet-F1