MONACO (Reuters) - (Attention language in paras five and 15) Lewis Hamilton celebrated a memorable Monaco pole position on Saturday before speaking eloquently of the debt he owed to friend and late triple world champion Niki Lauda. I think today was about as close as I could get to it, so this one is for Niki," the five-times world champion told reporters. "We just try to walk around with a smile and really try to lift each other up, and do him proud," said Hamilton. If I hadn’t had the call all that time ago, I would be a one-time world champion now and probably 22 wins." Hamilton's pole was his 85th, and his next win would be his 77th -- 14 short of seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher's all-time record.

Source: The Star May 25, 2019 18:22 UTC