Lewis Hamilton was surprised to qualify on the front row of the grid for the Portuguese GP despite missing out on his 100th Formula 1 pole position by 0.007 seconds to Valtteri Bottas. Hamilton starts ahead of his main title challenger Max Verstappen and was pleased to lock out the first row of the grid in Portimao. "It was a great job by Valtteri and our team," said Hamilton after qualifying. "I did not expect to be on the front row this weekend. We have to be happy with that. "It was not the perfect lap but I gave it everything." Hamilton believes the team need to keep delivering if they want to beat Red Bull in the race and is confident Mercedes have what it takes to maintain their lead in the drivers' and constructors' championships. "I don't think we can ever be satisfied," added Hamilton. "What we exist to do is to continue to push forward but I'm definitely happy with the work we've been doing."
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