F1 | Mercedes, Hamilton praises Verstappen: "He did a fantastic lap"

Lewis Hamilton remains confident despite the half-beaten suffered by Max Verstappen in qualifying. The reigning Mercedes champion will start from the front row, but from second position, alongside his rival for the title fight, with the disadvantage, at least initially, of the medium tyre. On a strategic level, Red Bull today seems to have taken an important step in view of tomorrow's race, but the points will be awarded on Sunday.

“First of all, Max had a great lap, we couldn't compete – Hamilton said. It was fantastic for him, but we are still in a good position, I like to think that with our tires we will be able to have a good race. In the first lap of Q3 I lost time in turn 5, and also in the last one, but my last attempt was nice and clean, I couldn't do more. I don't know if it was due to tire preparation or anything else, but I couldn't beat that time, so he deserved pole. I'm on the front row anyway, with different tyres, we can try to build our race from there."