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Hamilton "surprised" with Malaysia pole
Lewis Hamilton says he "surprised himself" by claiming pole at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The championship leader had struggled during Friday's practice sessions to finish sixth quickest, a worrying 1.4 seconds off the pace of his nearest challenger for the drivers' title, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton feared it would be a case of damage limitation in qualifying, but Vettel suffered engine problems and will start from the back of the grid after failing to post a time.
The Briton beat Ferrari's other drive Kimi Raikkonen to pole by just 0.045 secs with Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo third and fourth, with Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas in fifth.
Hamilton said: "We had such a difficult day yesterday, difficult to know where we stood.
"I didn't sleep very well, just like all my engineers, we didn't know whether we would fix the issue or not.
"Today we arrived and the car was much better, still it looked like the Ferraris were a bit ahead.
"The [pole] lap was very well put together, very nice lap, I don't really know where it came from, I surprised myself.
"So, it's a surprise to be up here, but I am very grateful."
You can watch the Malaysian Grand Prix live on eir Sport 1 tomorrow morning with lights out at 8am.
Image: Getty/Lars Baron.
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