Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has hailed Lewis Hamilton's pole position lap for the Australian Grand Prix as 'unbelievable'.
The reigning World Champion claimed his 73rd career pole position by over six-tenths of a second, clinching the outright track record in the process.
After what appeared to be a close battle after the first runs in Q3, with the lead trio separated by just 0.061s, Wolff was impressed by the amount of time found by the British driver on his final run.
"That was an unbelievable final lap from Lewis to see him find so much pace, said Wolff.
"We didn't change anything on the car from the first run of Q3, it was just a case of Lewis putting all the pieces together and finding the limit on that last lap, with everything on the line; and this is the result, a really impressive pole position to start the new season.
"We expect a very close race between the top three teams tomorrow; there is still a lot to do if we want to score a strong result in the race."
Technical director James Allison also added his praise on Hamilton's performance given the challenge faced by the changing, cooling conditions within the final part of qualifying as daylight faded and clouds rolled in around the circuit.
"It wasn't at all easy," added Allison. "With track conditions changing rapidly through the session as the track cooled off, but we believed that our car had some good pace – and it was lovely to see that performance emerge over the final lap of Q3.
"It's a first small milestone in our season, which reflects the hard work of our teams back at base in Brixworth and Brackley; but there is much still to be done if we wish to transform that pace into a decisive race result tomorrow.
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