Clear goal for Hamilton after P3 in qualifying: 'Get first place'

Mercedes surprised friend and foe by securing the second and third starting spots for the Australian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton was elated with his third place and immediately had a clear goal: to take first place from Max Verstappen.

Hamilton wants to attack Verstappen

"I'm so happy with this. This was totally unexpected, really proud of the team. George did a fantastic job there today, so for us to be up on the two front rows is like a dream for us. We were all working as hard as we can to get right back up the front, so to be this close to Red Bull is incredible," Hamilton said after qualifying. 

Whereas Hamilton previously said he was hoping for rain, he has since changed his mind about that. "I hope tomorrow we can give them a bit of a run for their money and I hope the weather is good," he continued. The Mercedes driver maintains an ambitious goal for the race: "To get to first," he said, smiling at the crowd in attendance.

Hamilton thinks there might have been more in it, but suffered from traffic on his second flying lap. "The second lap was obviously not as good as the first one. I did get a little bit further ahead in the last sector, but ultimately I lost out a bit in the beginning. But I'm not disappointed, I'm super grateful for this position and I'm just gonna work as hard as I can to try and move forward tomorrow," Hamilton concluded.