Hamilton: I hope we can work together to beat Verstappen

"Another tough Q3 session. Congratulations to Max, he did a fantastic job," the seven-time world champion explained. "We made a few setup changes to the car before qualifying, which turned out to be the right call, and I feel I had the pace to go even faster.

"I felt strong through the first two sessions, but in Q3 I lost grip through Turns 1 and 3, which cost me two-tenths. From there to the line, the lap came together well. On the final run, I struggled with traction again—just for a fraction of a second, but you still lose time when the grip drops off.

"It feels as though our car has a very narrow operating window, and more often than not we fail to hit it. Heading into Q3, we couldn't quite find that sweet spot as track evolution and grip levels shifted.

"Hopefully, we can work together tomorrow to take the fight to Verstappen—that's the only way we'll put him under real pressure. I'm sure he'll be rapid, but we'll see if we can get ahead of him."