Lewis Hamilton’s radio exchange with Peter Bonnington after narrowly missing out on pole at Silverstone 

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton got encouragement from his race engineer Peter Bonnington after he narrowly missed out on the pole position at the British GP qualifying on Saturday. The seven-time world champion displayed his excellent skills behind the wheel once again at the iconic Silverstone track where he has already won on eight previous occasions while claiming seven pole positions as well.

The Mercedes driver finished P2 behind his teammate George Russell, who clinched his second pole position of the season after achieving the feat in Canada last month.

Hamilton was given positive affirmation about his performance by Bonnington who said on the team radio:

“Well done mate! That’s P2. Very very close there. That’s a front-row lockout. Nice work, mate!”

Hamilton inquired about the gap to Russell and asked:

“How much did we miss it by?”

To which Bonnington replied:

“A tenth and a half… a tenth and a half.”

Hamilton was buoyed to see three Brits in the Top-3 with McLaren driver Lando Norris qualifying in P3 and said in his post-qualifying interview (via Sky Sports):

"First off, a big, big thanks to this incredible crowd. I’m so proud to be here with three Brits in the top three is incredible. A huge congratulations to George – he did such a great job."

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Lewis Hamilton analyzes his P2 finish at the British GP qualifying

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton stated that the team was not expecting a front-row lockout for the British Grand Prix on Sunday heading into the qualifying session.

As quoted by the aforementioned source, the 39-year-old said:

"We definitely didn’t expect to be front row this weekend but this is huge for us, for our team. The car felt fantastic out there. So everyone in the garage, all our team that have come here really deserve this."

"The car felt great it was just about getting the tyre temperatures at the right place and sealing the deal when you had the time on track. I think I was able to do that. I think ultimately there was still time left on the table, which George was able to find," he added.

Hamilton further added that both Mercedes drivers "can work together to keep Lando behind" in the main race on Sunday and get a second successive win for the German team, having won the Austrian GP last weekend courtesy of George Russell.