Lewis Hamilton says he could have been faster in Q3, despite taking a comfortable pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The British driver put in a 1m32.850 on his first attempt in the final qualifying segment, before a mistake on his second run caused him to back off.
His earlier lap – the fastest at the Sepang International Circuit since 2005 – was good enough for him to secure pole in Malaysia for the fourth time in his career. But Hamilton believes a quicker time was possible.
“A huge thank you to the team, who continue through the whole year to improve," he said after taking his eighth pole of the season.
"This year it's definitely the best the car has been here; of course, this year the tyres are obviously better. But great work coming here and the last few weeks with Nico's wins.
"Today the car felt fantastic. I really enjoyed that lap – it could have been faster. I’m very happy and grateful for my lap but you always want to finish the last lap, I think there’s more time there.”
Hamilton believes Red Bull and Ferrari can be a threat to Mercedes in the race: “I think they're going to be very quick, they've been quick all weekend.
“Tomorrow [in the race], providing the conditions are like this, the track is generally better, a lot smoother, and it seems to work better with tyres than it has done it previous years.”
“It will be close race, for sure, as they have very good long runs, but I think we were looking quite strong also, so hopefully that's the case tomorrow.”
