Hamilton: "Closest I felt to perfection" during Singapore qualifying

Newly crowned champion Lewis Hamilton has admitted that his qualifying lap in Singapore was one of the best laps he's ever done, as the Brit took pole position from Max Verstappen with a seemingly perfect lap around the Marina Bay street circuit.

Mercedes were considered heavy underdogs heading into the race weekend in Singapore, with the German team always struggling for pace under the floodlights at the Marina Bay circuit. It looked like that too in practice, with Ferrari and Red Bull looking several tenths quicker than Mercedes.

However, on Saturday in Q3, the grid was shocked as Hamilton somehow took pole position ahead of Verstappen, despite the Dutchman putting in a tremendous lap himself. The lap of Hamilton was as close to perfection as you can be, and with the Brit taking pole position where he shouldn't, Ferrari were clearly rattled.

“I’m not saying that’s controlled from above or anything. When I say it’s heaven-sent, it’s just you’re always searching for perfection," Hamilton explained to GrandPrix247.

“You never get close to it, but that was the closest I felt. The lap just went. It was awesome. For me, that was one of the best laps I’ve ever done.

“When I say it’s heaven-sent, it’s just about setting yourself goals and that feeling you have. Think of heaven – heaven’s a perfect place and on that lap, I felt I was in a perfect place. In a beautiful place, an amazing feeling, balanced and at my best."

That lap might go down as one of the best qualifying laps ever, you know. It's right up there with Ayrton Senna's legendary Monaco lap in 1988, when he beat his teammate Alain Prost by a whopping 1.5 seconds.