Lewis Hamilton says his goal is to beat Max Verstappen to first place at the Australian Open Grand Prix after the seven-time champion qualified third for Sunday’s race.
The 38-year-old finished 0.372secs adrift of polesitter Verstappen with his Mercedes teammate George Russell slotting in between the two in second place.
Saturday’s qualifying performance was Mercedes’ most competitive showing of the season so far where the German manufacturer have been the third fastest car behind Red Bull and the Mercedes-powered Aston Martin.
Hamilton believes he can take the fight to Verstappen on Sunday, rekindling a rivalry that was last seen between the two in 2021 when the Dutchman denied the Briton a record eighth world championship, which would have seen him become the outright most successful driver in the sport.
“This is a totally unexpected. Really proud of the team,” Hamilton said after the qualifying session in Melbourne.
“George did an amazing job there today so for us to be up on the front two rows in honestly a dream for us.
“We are all working as hard as we can to get right back up to the front so to be this close to Red Bull is incredible.
“Hopefully tomorrow we can give them a run for their money and we hope the weather is good.
“I am super grateful for this position and I am just going to work as hard as I can tomorrow.
“[My goal] is to get to first. I am going to try and see and I will be hoping like my first day here 2007, Turn 1. I don’t know if anybody remembers but hopefully we can do that.”
"This is totally unexpected, really, really proud of the Team."
Let's see what we can do, tomorrow. ???? pic.twitter.com/UZmbbYYUDJ
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 1, 2023
Hamilton currently sits in fifth in the 2023 drivers’ championship with 20 points, 24 points off current leader Verstappen.
He finished fifth at the opening two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
