Lewis Hamilton applauds Ferrari's performance in Austrian GP qualifying

SPIELBERG: Lewis Hamilton commended Ferrari’s performance in the Austrian Grand Prix qualifying, terming it as ‘world-class’ on Saturday after Charles Leclerc finished second on the starting grid, and he followed up in fourth, while McLaren's Lando Norris clinched pole position.

Ferrari equalled their best qualifying performance of the season, repeating what they had done in Monaco.

Ferrari’s improvement came after making a change to their car, introducing a new floor, the first update to their car since the Bahrain race in April.

Hamilton praised his team's performance, describing it as a fantastic result and calling it a ‘world-class’ performance.

"It's a fantastic result. The team have worked really hard back at the factory to bring us a new floor this weekend," Hamilton said.

"My last lap wasn't perfect. I think if I'd finished it, I would have been second, so there are lots of positives to take out from that session.

"Also, I think it's been the best day operationally, particularly through qualifying. How the team operated. Just timings, the information we're getting in terms of traffic and positioning on track, I think was really the best. It was proper world class."

Hamilton, who switched from Mercedes to Ferrari this season, has yet to improve his performance, as he has gone 12 races without a podium.

Ferrari, the runners-up of last year, are behind McLaren and Mercedes in third position.

Hamilton, who was just 0.09 seconds behind Leclerc, claimed he could have finished second had he performed well in his final lap.

"My last lap wasn't perfect, I think that could have been, if I had finished that, would have been second,” Hamilton continued.

"So there's lots of positives to take out from that session.

“Also I think it has been the best day, operationally, particularly through qualifying, how the team operated, just timings, the information we are getting in terms of traffic and positionings on track, it was the best, it was proper world class. That is what we are working towards."