Lewis Hamilton admits he could have gone quicker after making a mistake on his final flying lap, but he still claimed pole with his slower, banker lap.
The Mercedes driver’s pole lap was just 0.055 seconds quicker than second-placed Sebastian Vettel. However Hamilton’s quickest lap was his first lap, which he says was a careful banker to ensure he registered a time early on in the session.
“For the first lap in Q3, we have to be a little bit more within the limit to make sure you definitely get a lap in, just in case you have something like a yellow flag,” he said.
“If I had another lap as Sebastian did, I think I would have been able to eke a bit more time out.
“But it doesn’t matter. I got what I needed out of it.”
