Hamilton explains why he was surprised by Australian Grand Prix pole position

Photo [Courtesy]

The five-time world champion stunned his rivals to secure pole position for the 2019 season-opening showdown in Melbourne

Lewis Hamilton admitted “he had no idea” Mercedes had the pace advantage over their rivals after the five-time world champion took a sixth successive pole position at the Australian Grand Prix.

Hamilton struggled with a brake problem during the frenetic final session at Albert Park but edged teammate Valtteri Bottas by 0.112 seconds with a searing second lap of one minute 20.486 seconds that set a record at the circuit.

Photo [Courtesy]

The one-two punch by Mercedes left Ferrari and their championship rivals stunned, with Hamilton’s chief challenger Sebastian Vettel, who qualified third, more than seven-tenths of a second off the five-time champion’s pace.

And the Briton, who now has a record-equalling eight poles at Melbourne’s Albert Park, was delighted to put his car at the front of the grid for Sunday’s showdown.

“We had no idea that we'd have this gap to the others,” he said.

“We thought we were behind, we thought it was going to be a push, so we gave it absolutely everything and more to arrive here with the best possible package and delivery.

“I feel so fortunate to be in the position I'm in today.

“Valtteri and I have been pushing the car to its absolute limits.

“We haven't massively changed the car; it's almost the same set-up we had in Barcelona, so this gap was really surprising to see. This is the first time we've unleashed the full potential of the car and I'm so happy to have a car that I can fight with.

“This is a really great start to the new season and it puts us in a good position for the fight tomorrow.”