Hamilton wanted to ‘wipe smile’ off Vettel’s face 

Lewis Hamilton joked he wanted to “wipe the smile” off Sebastian Vettel’s face after storming to a record-breaking pole position for the Australian Grand Prix. 

Hamilton held provisional pole after the first Q3 runs but was under pressure from his rivals, with himself, Vettel and Max Verstappen all separated by just 0.061s. But the reigning world champion pulled off a stunning final run to set a new Melbourne lap record of 1:21.164s and seal a record seventh career pole in Australia. 

He finished more than six tenths clear of Kimi Raikkonen thanks to an improvement of eight tenths on his final flying lap, prompting suggestions the gain had come from a special qualifying engine mode. 

But Hamilton insisted he had been running in the same engine mode throughout Q2 and Q3, instead claiming the lap was down to getting the most out of his tyres and hooking up three strong sectors.

“On that lap I was in the same mode as lap before – it was about getting the tyres in the right temperature and getting the sectors right,” explained Hamilton. “I had good sectors before but it was about putting them together.”

“I can assure you we don’t have a party mode,” he continued. “There was no extra button, there was no extra mode that I engaged in.”

That prompted Vettel to question why Hamilton was unable to set the same kind of pace earlier in qualifying, with the German enquiring: “What were you doing before then?”

“I was waiting to put in a good lap in, so I could wipe the smile off your face!” Hamilton quipped. “I’ve never heard the term party mode but it sounds pretty cool.”

Vettel later returned another jibe in response to Hamilton's joke, saying: "What goes around comes around. At the end of the day that’s why we are here, we want to have fun.

"That’s what he enjoys and on Saturday’s he’s doing pretty well. He’s free to have a party tonight and then Kimi and I can have one tomorrow."

Hamilton believes his pole position effort was up there with his very best, adding it was as close to perfection as he could get. 

“You would think that with the results we had through the years it would be the norm [but] it was still just an intense. My heart is racing. That last lap for me was definitely the best of this weekend and I am very very happy with that lap.

“One of my best I would say. It was such a nice lap. I’m always striving for perfection and that was as close as I could get.”