Hamilton downbeat about Mercedes' qualifying performance in Austria

The seven-time world champion ended up half a second adrift of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and was also slower than both Ferrari drivers and McLaren’s Lando Norris as he took fifth in Friday qualifying in Austria. 

Hamilton did manage to out-qualify both Aston Martins but conceded Mercedes might only have the fourth-fastest car when it comes to Sunday’s grand prix. 

“It’s not P1 but I’ll take it and try and work with it,” a despondent Hamilton said. 

“I think our race pace was possibly around third fastest. I think the Red Bulls and Ferraris are quickest and maybe the Astons, so maybe we’re fourth. 

"I’m not quite sure exactly we were just trying to focus on getting round as quick as we could today. It was a very difficult session, not an easy circuit our car in general in the past has not really suited this circuit and it showed it again today. 

“Really tough session, but got through it, thank god.”

Hamilton acknowledged fifth was a strong place to start from on Sunday and is eyeing a better showing in Saturday’s Sprint Shootout and Sprint race.

“We will see if we can do better in Sprint qualifying tomorrow, depending on the weather and temperatures,” he continued. 

“Fifth in the race on Sunday is strong position to start from, last year I was further back and it was a tough race so I’m hoping we can have a better race on Sunday.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admitted it was an underwhelming performance from his team, with George Russell knocked out in Q2 and only 11th on the grid. 

“Overall underwhelming,” Wolff told Sky F1. “We came with expectations that we would be fighting for P2 or P3, with the Ferraris and Aston Martins, and we underperformed.

“But racing is only on Sunday so we will see.

“You see that the time gaps are not huge – you’re talking two tenths up and down and it makes a big difference. We are bringing something to Silverstone and hopefully it has the impact that McLaren and Ferrari had [with their upgrades] today.”