Max Verstappen beat Hamilton to a crucial pole for their winner-takes-𒁏all title showdown by ne𒐪arly 0.371s, with a tow from Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez providing him with a key boost on the straights. 

Hamil🍌ton was the lead Mercedes driv😼er in both Q3 runs and therefore did not benefit from a slipstream behind teammate Valtteri Bottas. 

And Hamilton confirmed such tacti𓃲cs wꦓere never part of the plan for Mercedes. 

"No, it wasn’t discussed,” Hamilton said when 🥀asked if Mercedes had considered carrying off a similar strategy. “We’ve never ever really done that.” 

"I mean I’d 🌳like Valtteri to focus on his [lap], we work as a team,”𓃲 he added. 

“Valtteri needed🐲 to get the best job done for himself to have both of us as high up as possible, it’s not something we discuss or work on and I don’t believe we should have either.” 

Despite being beaten to pole by Verstappen and starting Sunday’s title-deciding race on harder tyres than his main rival, Hamilton believes he is still in good position to fight for th▨e win a🌃nd ultimately the championship. 

“We just couldn’t answer to that lap, that was a fantastic lap from him💯,” Hamilton conceded. “But we’re in a good position, I’d like to think, with our tyres for tomorrow and I hope that we can have a good race.

“You saw the first lap, I dropped a little bit of time in turn five. But the last lap was nice and clean,♑ I just couldn’t go any quicker.

“I don’t know if it’s tyre prep, in terms of the out-lap but nonetheless, I couldn’t beat that🐲 time th🗹at he did today, he fully deserved the pole.

“I’m still on the front row, we’ve got the difference between the tyres and I’m grateful I can see where he is. And then we can try and navi☂ꩵgate from there.”