Hamilton 'surprised' to be on pole in Malaysia

Lewis Hamilton scored the 70th pole of his career by winning qualifying for the Malaysian GP at Sepang. The pilot Mercedes snatched first place for 45 thousandths ahead of Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) by setting the new lap record on the Kuala Lumpur circuit which he completed in 1’30”076.

“The engineers worked well but it’s a real surprise to find myself on pole, commented Lewis Hamilton. We will have to fight tomorrow, especially against the Red Bull which perform well on long relays. We had a difficult day yesterday. I didn't sleep very well, I was thinking about things to rectify the problem we had. The car was much better today even if the Ferraris still seemed a little ahead. »

Lewis Hamilton took advantage of his title rival's woes Sebastian Vettel who was unable to set a time in Q1 due to a turbo problem condemning him to last position on the grid.

“I feel sorry for him. I really don’t know where I could pull off such a lap for pole, I surprised myself”, commented the three-time world champion.

WATCH: @LewisHamilton the master of qualifying #MalaysiaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/H9pRchLBst

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 30, 2017

After winning the Singapore GP and taking advantage of Sebastian Vettel's retirement, Lewis Hamilton has a 28-point lead with six races remaining in the season. His last victory in Malaysia dates back to 2014.