Hamilton: Ferrari have Jet-Mode

Charles Leclerc was untouchable as he powered to pole by a comfortable four-tenths of a second, half a four-tenths better than his teammate Sebastian Vettel, with Hamilton spoiling an all-red front row by a mere 0.023 of a second.

It was a mega effort in a car that was losing four-tenths of second through the high-power first sector to the Ferrari duo. But as he tends to do, Hamilton managed to eke out more than expected from the package while his teammate Valtteri Bottas was seven-tenths slower.

Afterwards, an enthused Hamilton said, “I tell you it was a tough qualifying session because these guys have some crazy speed on the straight, they go to another level. That whole party [engine] mode you talk about us having, they have something else on there – jet mode.

“Nonetheless I gave it everything I had at the end and the team did such a good job to tinker and push forwards and I am so glad it came together. I wasn’t expecting to get on the front row, that’s for sure, so yeah I’m really really happy with this.”

“We know [Ferrari] are on a slightly lower drag level this weekend, plus they have that power, so we’ve got to try something," he said. "We’ve seen in the last couple of races we’ve been behind kind of all the way, so we’re fortunate enough to opt for another strategy. The team has done a good job with opting for another strategy.

“It’s a long run-up to Turn 1 so it’s not always the best for starts on the harder tyres but I’m going to try to tow the life out of Charles if I get the chance. But it’s going to be hard because they get good starts as well," added the World Champion.

Mercedes have opted to start their drivers on the medium tyres for the race tomorrow in an effort to unsettle what has become a Ferrari steamroller since the season resumed at Spa-Francorchamps earlier this month - four successive poles and now hunting a quartet of back-to-back victories.