I couldn’t quite hit the potential we had shown – Lewis Hamilton

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton has admitted he struggled to maximise the potential of his Mercedes W09 after qualifying fourth for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Throughout qualifying, there was a close fight between the top three teams and pole position looked to be anyone's game, especially after Max Verstappen topped all three practice sessions.

During both runs in Q3 Hamilton locked up into the Turn 10 hairpin which meant he lost crucial tenths as he chased a seventh pole position around the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit.

"It was a difficult qualifying," said Hamilton. "My laps weren't good and it just didn't quite come together for me. In practice, things looked good and I think I could have been quickest in FP3, but in qualifying, I couldn't quite hit the potential we had shown.

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"I don't think today's performance has got anything to do with the older engine."

The Briton was magnanimous in his defeat and praised title rival Sebastian Vettel for collecting a fourth pole position in 2018 and believes he can still have a shot at taking the victory.

With how close the top three teams are, Hamilton believes it could be a tough race to overtake but is aiming to do all he can to clinch a seventh race victory in Montreal which would tie him with the legendary Michael Schumacher.

"Sebastian simply did a better job when it counted in Q3," added Hamilton. "You can see just how tight things are at the front of the grid, so I think it could be tricky to overtake tomorrow. Sure, it'll be tough to win from fourth here, but nothing is impossible.

"I'll dig deep tonight. My focus now is on tomorrow."