Lewis Hamilton makes classy Lando Norris comment on Mercedes radio during Austrian GP

“It was cool. After the last race, I wanted to do that one more step [starting fourth] and I did two more. It’s nice. It puts us in a good position for tomorrow, it’s one of the best laps I’ve done I think.

“It was a good feeling.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton ruled out the chance of a win on Sunday after setting only the fourth-fastest time during qualifying. His main title rival Verstappen started on pole for the third race in a row.

“Even more of a challenge than already it was last week, and we continue to lack pace, we tried everything to get more out of the car,” said Hamilton to Sky Sports F1.

“It’s just the underlying pace that’s where we’re at, at the moment.

“So we’ve got to really find performance in the following races, I don’t know if McLaren have brought an upgrade, but they’re mega quick today.