"We stayed out of the wall" - Lewis Hamilton explains the difference between him and Max Verstappen during Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton secured pole position at the end of qualifying by beating teammate Valtteri Bottas and rival Max Verstappen at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Saturday evening. The Briton struggled to find grip on medium compound tires in Q2 but soon got them up to the right temperature to set a blazing lap around the difficult street circuit.

The defending world champion spoke about the session in a post-qualifying interview, addressing Mercedes' lack of pace compared to Red Bull.

Lewis Hamilton gave an insight into Mercedes's strategy throughout the qualifying session. The Briton spoke about the conditions on the track, such as the wind direction and lack of grip on the tires, saying:

"It was unbelievably hard and I think the wind shifted a little bit today. We had a tailwind into turn one and yesterday we had a headwind, so things really shifted the balance a little bit. I don't understand what is going on, all of a sudden we have [problems] getting [ready] these tires. If you look at the last race, super slow, crawling around lap and the tires are ready for lap one, but here we are doing fast out laps, weaving, trying to get the tires ready for lap one. I don't really understand."

The tires weren't the only problem for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. Valtteri Bottas's engine was misfiring towards the end of Q2, but somehow the team managed to mend it in time for the final qualifying session. As for the pace comparisons with Red Bull, he said:

"Ultimately, we weren't as fast as them [Red Bull] today. I couldn't match what he [Max Verstappen] did at the end, but luckily we didn't have to do that. We stayed out of the wall and did the job."

Lewis Hamilton will start in pole position for the race today, ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen in P2 and P3 respectively.

Watch a clip from the interview below:

---

Lewis Hamilton inches closer to the all-elusive eighth championship title

Lewis Hamilton has once again shown why he is the reigning world champion with his brilliant performance in qualifying ahead of the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix main race on Sunday.

His title challenger Max Verstappen had a blazingly fast first and second sector during his final lap in Q3, but unfortunately, put it in the wall at the exit for the final corner.

The Dutchman carried too much speed into the corner, locking up the front-left tire and crashing the rear part of the car into the wall. Many fear the Red Bull has sustained gearbox damage. Verstappen will receive a five-place grid penalty for the race if his team decides to change his gearbox.

Catch the main race of the first-ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix live on Sunday, where Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes will try their best to deny Max Verstappen his maiden title win.