Lewis Hamilton says taking his 100th career pole position in Formula 1 is “crazy”, after he beat Max Verstappen to the top spot in Barcelona on Saturday.
Hamilton narrowly edged the Red Bull driver, becoming the first driver in F1 history to breach 100 poles.
The Briton has held the all-time pole position record since 2017, edging Michael Schumacher’s record at the Italian Grand Prix that year.
“I don’t really feel like I can compute it right now, it’s a huge number,” Hamilton said of his 100th pole.
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel. But I’m excited that it was so close and it felt amazing.
“Qualifying is so special when you come across that line and you find out that you are just ahead, and you think ‘okay, how am I going to squeeze out more, will the other guys find a tenth or two or three on the next run, or not at all?’
“It’s nerve-wrecking. It’s such a big number that it’s hard to express just how amazing and crazy it is. I don’t really know what else to say.”
Hamilton’s pole on Saturday marks his 74th with Mercedes, as he took his first 26 from 2007 to 2012 with McLaren.
The 36-year-old credited Mercedes with allowing him to streak to triple-figure pole positions, believing the two parties have been on a “remarkable journey” since 2013.
“I’ve been racing a long time and the 100-mark is something that I don’t think anybody, and particularly me, thought that I would get to that number,” Hamilton said.
“But when I think about it, I just think about all the people that have helped me get there. It’s not only the amazing team that I have here but it’s the incredible group of people back at the factories, who just never cease to amaze me and continue to raise the bar.
“There’s so many people we don’t get to see each other all the time but we’re connected in these great debriefs that we have. But this journey that we’ve been on all these years, it’s been remarkable and so enjoyable.”
