Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton has congratulated Max Verstappen for taking pole position for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, and admitted he had extracted the maximum from his W12. Hamilton briefly took provisional pole as the chequered flag fell, setting a 1:29.3 to wrest top spot away from the Red Bull. Verstappen, crossing the line seconds later, set a 1:28.9 to snatch away the pole from Hamiltons' grasp. "Congratulations to Max," said a breathless Hamilton right after the session. " He did such a great job, and was so fast on that last lap. "I gave it absolutely everything I had, but unfortunately it wasn't good enough." "There's always more but I think I got absolutely everything from the car. "I think we did a really good job to come from testing to come here. "The guys back at the factory have done such an amazing job. "And our aerodynamicist came along and she's given us such great information for us to be able to come and improve and get the car where we needed it to be closer to the Red Bulls. "I think it's quite close, considering where we were in qualifying."
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