Lewis Hamilton celebrates his best qualifying result of ‘really difficult’ 2022

He told Sky Sports: ‘Honestly I feel amazing, I’m so happy. P4 has never felt so good if I’m being honest – maybe when I was in my first year of racing – particularly because it’s been a really, really difficult year.

‘We went two different directions with the car yesterday just to try and get the information. George’s way happened to be a lot better, so the car didn’t feel that great through a lot of that session.

‘With this car you need everything and more to come together. I like to think that I have rhythm and at this track you need to have rhythm, but I feel like this car runs on a completely different beat.

‘The rain always opens up opportunity and I love this track but it’s been a struggle so far this weekend and there’s still a lot of work to do.’

Having spent a long time working on their ongoing performance issues, Mercedes will be ecstatic with a second row qualification.

And Hamilton was hopeful of at least holding position in Sunday’s race after an impressive display at the wheel of a stubborn and brutish car that he has struggled to master.

George Russell’s eighth place start will further dampen the German team’s jubilation though, after the British driver spun close to the end of the session having taken a gamble on dry-ground slick tyres.

Hamilton is joined on the grid by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, whose team-mate Charles Leclerc will start the race from the back of the grid after taking a new engine.

Max Verstappen continued his dominant form by taking pole position, but is joined at the front of the grid, perhaps surprisingly, by Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, who was 0.645 seconds short of the Dutchman.