Hamilton: I just over-egged it a little bit

During his final attempt at pole in Q3, Hamilton set a scintillating first sector only to botch it up in sector two where he ran wide and was lucky not to slam the wall, thus the top start spot went to the Finn in the #77 car.

Speaking to media at the end of the afternoon, Hamilton was quick to praise Bottas' effort, "Big congratulations to Valtteri, he did a great job in Q3."

Before adding, "It’s been a really good weekend so far, honestly. I really can’t complain. I don’t know where it really got away from me in Q3 but I struggled a little bit and Valtteri obviously picked up quite a bit of pace."

"The middle sector was where I was slacking, as I’d call it. [It] hadn’t been too bad throughout qualifying. Q1 was really good and then Q2 wasn’t so great and just generally throughout the weekend it’s been a bit up and down through that sector but been quick in the first and third."

"The first lap in Q3, I was down three-tenths in the middle sector but I was quickest in the first and last. So I knew I had to push quite a lot because I knew also he [Bottas] would gain time, so it wasn’t three tenths it has half a second I needed to improve.

"So I just over-egged it a little bit. I think I picked up a little bit of dirt on my outside tyres and then there was less grip there for the next corner."

"Anyway, it’s great to have a one-two and it’s a long way down to Turn 1 so we’ll still have a fight at least. It’s going to be a long race, for sure," concluded Hamilton who will be looking to add to his two wins at the venue in 2014 and 2015.