Lewis Hamilton has dedicated his pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix to Niki Lauda.
Formula 1 has been paying tribute to the Austrian who died earlier this week, with Mercedes emerging on Saturday with red halos to signify the red hat with which their non-executive chairman was synonymous.
Speaking after qualifying, Hamilton was proud of the performance he and the German manufacturer have put in.
“This is definitely one of the best poles that I can remember,” he said. “Obviously I’ve had a lot of success over the years but I can’t really remember one that means as much as this one.
Also Read:
“It’s been such a difficult week for the whole team and personally, so at such a difficult circuit it’s amazing how we’ve turned up as a team and continuing to take strides forward to develop collectively and get stronger and improve on our performance weekend in, weekend out.
“I’m so, so proud of everyone but to have a little bit of a cloud over us this weekend we’ve really tried to lift each other up for Niki."
It was then that the five-time champion made the declaration: "It [Monaco] has been a track where I’ve been quick but never quite got that perfect lap and I think today was the closest I’ve got to it. So this one’s for Niki.”
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was heard telling Hamilton in parc ferme that "Niki would be proud" of his performance and Lewis was asked how he and Mercedes have coped with the circumstances.
“Well ultimately we are professionals," he replied.
“Niki would just have wanted us to get in [the car] and he would always say ‘just give it arseholes’ and that’s why I tried to do every time I got in the car.
“That’s what he would always say. You just try to walk around with a smile and really try to lift each other up and do him proud. I think hopefully we are and we will have to try and do the same to pull out something special tomorrow.”
