Lewis Hamilton continued to lambast the "worst ever" track surface he's raced on after qualifying only sixth for the Turkish Grand Prix.

Mercedes' 100% pole record in 2020 ended in a whimper at a wet Istanbul Park on Saturday, with the Briton's best time in Q3 a whopping 4.7s off the fastest set by Lance Stroll in the Racing Point.

And having been highly critical of the lack of grip from the new tarmac on Friday, Hamilton didn't hold back again after qualifying.

"It was definitely one of the least enjoyable, if not the least enjoyable that I've had," he said of the session.

"This track, the layout is so great, but the grip is so poor that you can't really generate the grip to go through the corners at the speed we would like.

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"Otherwise, it was a challenge, and challenges are always good.

"The track surface grip is the worst I've ever experienced in any year of racing. Considering how much downforce we have, it's been a challenge.

"Going into the wet today made it even harder. So we were definitely limited by grip and temperature, but I'm pretty happy with the job I did."

Despite his frustration, Hamilton still remains on course to wrap up his seventh F1 title on Sunday as Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas will start a lowly ninth on the grid.

But asked about his race chances, the Briton admits he can't make any predictions.

"I have no idea what car I've got underneath me tomorrow," Hamilton said. "We made some set-ups going into today, and then it's been wet.

"If it's dry, I have no idea how it is going to feel, if it's wet, I know it's going to be, it could feel as bad as today. We'll just go with it. We're all in the same boat out there, we're all struggling. It's really cool.

"Congrats to Lance on the pole, that's pretty awesome. We look forward to a fight with them tomorrow."