Hamilton far from satisfied despite securing French GP pole

Lewis Hamilton cut a surprisingly frustrated figure when speaking to the media following securing pole position for Sunday's French Grand Prix, branding his and Mercedes' performance in Q3 'so-so', despite him and team-mate Valtteri Bottas securing a confident one-two on the grid.

Mercedes were superior for almost the entirety of qualifying, with Hamilton emerging fastest in all three sessions and though Valtteri Bottas produced a thrilling lap at the end of Q3, Hamilton was able to edge back in front of the Finn to clinch his 75th pole and round off a good day for Mercedes.

However, Hamilton was far from happy with his performance in Q3, and reckons that there is still room for improvement in the car for the race.

He said: "“It wasn’t too bad. The weather has been okay. Obviously it was much better earlier in the week but qualifying is always tough. Q3 has not been spectacular. Q1 and Q2 were good but Q3 was so-so."

On the subject of the new Mercedes engine that was on display at Circuit Paul Ricard, he stated: "I am happy with the work that has been done, but that has only ensured that we are now at the forefront."

The world champion also added that he was happy that the F1 calendar had returned to France and gave a special message for the fans, who turned out in force for the first French GP in a decade.

Hamilton added: “It feels great to be back here in France. It is such a beautiful place.

"We got such a great response from the crowd here and I was really excited to come to the first grand prix here at Paul Ricard for a long long time and to be on the front is a great showing of the hard work from all the guys in my team.”

That’s how it’s done! ???? An incredible 75th @F1 pole for @LewisHamilton! And his first ever at the #FrenchGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/ydd9Wno4cC — Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) June 23, 2018