Hamilton shares poignant Schumacher reflection after 'special' Ferrari pole

The seven-time world champion was over four tenths down on teammate Charles Leclerc after his first run in the final part of qualifying. However, he put in a stunning lap of 1:16.514 to take pole position by 0.009 seconds from George Russell, who also got ahead of Leclerc.

It was Hamilton's first pole for Ferrari and the achievement carried extra significance for the Brit, who reflected on watching Schumacher take poles and victories in Ferrari colours.

“To have your first Ferrari pole, I mean, jeez, it just takes me back to watching Michael get all those pole positions when he was with Ferrari and all those wins,” Hamilton said. “It’s very, very special.”

Schumacher took 58 pole positions and 72 victories for Ferrari during his time with the team from 1996 to 2006, winning five straight titles from 2000 to 2004 in one of the sport's most dominant periods.

Hamilton also explained that he had needed a substantial improvement on his final lap to challenge Leclerc, who had set the early benchmark. The Brit was third after the first runs behind Leclerc and Max Verstappen, who both had scruffy final laps, with the Dutchman not happy with Lando Norris after coming across the McLaren in the final sector.

Hamilton said: “Charles, I think, was three or four tenths up the road from the first run, and that’s quite a big deficit to close on your last lap,” he said. "But I knew areas that I could improve on.”