Valtteri Bottas was left to rue an error on his final Q3 push lap, but accepted that Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton had “quite a last lap”.
Hamilton led the way during Q3 for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit, and posted a new track record on his final effort.
Bottas jumped Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to lock-out the front row of the grid for Mercedes but was still left to lament a mistake on his second lap.
“First of all, Lewis had quite a last lap, so congratulations for that,” said Bottas.
“In my first lap I felt there was plenty I could improve and the gap would get smaller between us than in the first runs.
“In the second run I think there was definitively some track improvement, and both of us managed to find some time.
“But he just managed to get a little bit of a more complete lap, in the end.
“I think that what hurt me a bit was there was a couple of runs in qualifying where I couldn’t get a good lap in.
“I think with the Ultrasoft tyres, at the start of Q2 and in some other runs I really struggled with some things in the car.
“I think I lost a lot a little bit of time in Turns 17 and 18, it’s very difficult to get it perfectly right.
“He’s performing well, he was tough to beat this time, there was probably a little bit more time in me, but he also did a really good lap.”
Bottas has not won a Grand Prix since last year’s finale at the Yas Marina Circuit.
