Lewis Hamilton believes he extracted the maximum pace possible from his McLaren on his way to a front-row start for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Hamilton said that while he was disappointed not to replicate the pace that put him on top of the times in Q2, that second nevertheless represented a satisfying outcome.
"It was a good session for me," said the 2008 World Champion, who was 0.2sec slower in Q3 than Q2 while Sebastian Vettel improved by the same amount to take pole.
"We've had quite a good couple of days and made quite a big improvement, from the last race at least. I felt it was as fast as I could go. It wasn't really a great lap, the one in Q2 was much better, but that's the way it is."
Hamilton's result means he has never qualified lower than second for any of the Abu Dhabi Grands Prix that have been held.
His McLaren teammate Jenson Button will start third after lapping just 0.009sec slower than Hamilton.