Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton says he is not 100% fit

Lewis Hamilton claims he wasn’t his usual self after he narrowly lost out to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the battle for Abu Dhabi GP pole position, as he “struggled” with his Mercedes car in qualifying on his return after testing positive for coronavirus.

Hamilton will start behind his two perennial rivals for Sunday’s 2020 finale after an incredibly-close final battle for pole position in Q3.

• Lewis Hamilton cleared to race after returning negative COVID-19 tests

Polesitter Verstappen claimed Red Bull’s first Saturday success of the year while second-placed Bottas and third-placed Hamilton were separated by less than a tenth of a second.

The seven-time champion missed last week’s Sakhir GP due to coronavirus and has returned to his Mercedes car on Friday.

After qualifying, Hamilton said he was “not 100 percent” fit yet compared to when he last raced two weeks ago in Bahrain’s first race - but would give it his all on Sunday.

“Today was definitely hard. Actually, I think yesterday and today have both been a couple of the hardest days I’ve had probably in the car this year,” said Hamilton.

“I gave it everything I could, it was just not the perfect laps and not the usual me.

“I struggled with the car but I gave it everything I’ve got and it’s close between us all. It’s not miles of at least. I know there’s work to do tomorrow and there’s lots of opportunity.”

Hamilton in his post-qualifying press conference said he was still feeling the after-effects of Covid-19.

“I am not 100 per cent, I still have some feeling within my lungs,” said the world champion.

“Normally, I would drive even if one of my arms was hanging off. That’s what we do as racing drivers and luckily that’s not the case.”

After returning a positive test on November 30 the day after winning the Bahrain GP, Hamilton spent 10 days in isolation in his hotel room, a period which ended on Thursday.

He first posted a negative test in Bahrain on Wednesday.