Hamilton cites costly 'issue' that stopped him from matching Leclerc in Japan

After claiming his first Grand Prix podium with Ferrari last weekend in Shanghai, Hamilton finished only P6 in the Suzuka qualifying session, behind the two Mercedes, the two McLarens, and Charles Leclerc.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the session, the seven-time world champion said: "I was feeling pretty decent, it’s just we’re not very quick, I mean compared to the Mercedes and a little bit the McLaren.

"On my first lap, I was up and then I lost two and a half tenths just on the straights, just from, I had a snap and then it changed the deployment and then that was it," he continued, explaining that fourth place was on the cards. Hamilton finished around a tenth and a half behind Leclerc.

Hamilton was unsure whether he would be able to repeat the result he achieved in China.

The Ferrari driver commented: "I don’t know whether we can turn it into a podium, but our race pace has been pretty decent. It looks like McLaren have taken a step forward, naturally they’ve got the Mercedes engine which is a long way ahead of us at the moment.

He concluded about the gap to his former team: "We’ve got a huge amount of work to do. To be seven-eight tenths off, even if you bring an upgrade of two, three, four tenths, it’s still a long way off. So, to close that gap is going to take a mighty push from everybody."