Lewis Hamilton called Mercedes' performance a "real surprise" after battling for the front row in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying.
The seven-time world champion feared he wouldn't even make Q3 after finishing outside the top 10 in both practice sessions on Friday in Barcelona.
Ultimately, Hamilton finished fifth but less than a tenth behind Carlos Sainz in second, a result that Lewis definitely wasn't expecting.
“Well firstly, absolutely shocked today,” he said post-session. “It was a real surprise to see us so far up front competing for the front row but we did some great work overnight with the analysis.
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"I did a lot of work, I think I was here until like 11pm last night trying to figure out where we could find the time.
“When I woke up this morning I was on a mission. I definitely didn’t expect us to be fighting for the front row.
“The car really came alive today from P3 and I think ultimately just how our whole package - a big, big thank you to everyone back at the factory as it’s showing that we are progressing which I am so grateful to see and I really enjoyed driving the car today.”
Hamilton believed a mistake at Turn 10 on his last lap ultimately denied him P2 alongside Max Verstappen but...
“I am not killer disappointed," he added, "maybe if I was fighting for the world championship I would be.
"I am just encouraged to see where the car is where it is and hopefully tomorrow I can move forwards.”
There was a scary moment for Mercedes though when both drivers touched on the main straight during Q2, damaging the front wing of Hamilton's car.
Hamilton and Russell get too close for comfort in qualifying 👀#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/iNN0795E9p
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 3, 2023
The trigger was George Russell backing off and then moving across just as his teammate pulled alongside as they both passed Sainz's Ferrari.
The 38-year-old though was unimpressed, calling the incident "dangerous" over the radio.
"Yeah pretty much,” Russell said when asked if there had been a miscommunication.
“I wasn’t even aware he was there. I was starting my lap, trying to take the slipstream from Sainz and fortunate that nothing bad happened.”
The incident was just the seal on a difficult qualifying for the young Briton, who could only manage 12th fastest.
"Everything to be honest," he declared on what went wrong. "I am not too sure why. Straight out of the box in run one, I just had no grip from the tyres, really struggling.
“The car started to bounce a lot in the high-speed corners so I couldn’t take corners flat-out when I was doing so this morning.
"A really odd session. Not surprised to be out in Q2 because the car was totally off the pace. I didn’t have a good feeling with it. Disappointing for sure.”
