Lewis Hamilton admits he was caught unaware by Valtteri Bottas' sudden improvement in pace in Q3 as he had to settle for second in Russian Grand Prix qualifying.

The Briton had led the second and third practice sessions as well as Q1 and Q2 before being unexpectedly dislodged by his Finnish teammate at Sochi, missing out on the chance to secure the Mercedes qualifying battle for this season.

He would come up just 0.004s shy on his first attempt before running off track at Turn 7 on his second with Bottas going on to improve by another tenth of a second.

“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,” Hamilton said.

“I think the middle sector was really where I was slacking, but anyways it’s great to have a 1-2.”

Later in the press conference, Motorsport.com queried why it was the championship leader appeared to be struggling more than most through the series of sweeping corners around the Olympic arenas.

“Just generally throughout the weekend it’s been a bit up and down through that sector, but I’ve been quick in the first and third," Lewis replied.

“I did push quite a lot because I knew also he [Bottas] would gain time, so it was not three tenths, it was like half a second I needed to improve.

“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.”

In a show of respect Hamilton ended by praising his teammate for the "great job" he did, Sunday is where it matters most, however, and the cloud of team orders in his favour will likely lurk over the race.