Ferrari 'able to fight' – Hamilton optimistic on Barcelona-Catalunya GP chances after strong Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton believes "we’re in a good position to be able to fight" for victory in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, with the Ferrari driver set to start on the front row.

The seven-time World Champion was best of the rest in Qualifying behind polesitter George Russell, Hamilton finishing just 0.064s adrift of the Mercedes driver and ensuring a front row start for Sunday's 66-lap race.

It marks Hamilton's best Qualifying performance for Ferrari ahead of a Grand Prix, with the in-form Briton having finished second in the last two races in Canada and Monaco.

"All weekend we’ve been kind of four tenths off these guys [Mercedes], so even with the upgrade we thought maybe that’s where we were," said Hamilton.

"But for us to be that close, less than a tenth between us, it’s a real showing of the hard work everyone at the factory has done to bring these upgrades to this track, so a big, big thank you to everyone back in Maranello.

"We’ve just got to keep pushing, keep developing, and I’m hoping tomorrow we can squeeze some more out of this and I hope we keep up with these guys for once."

Ferrari looked strong throughout Qualifying on Saturday, with Hamilton topping Q1 and team mate Charles Leclerc finishing second in Q2, less than half-a-tenth behind Russell.

While Leclerc suffered a crash at the beginning of Q3, Hamilton was able to continue that momentum having struggled for performance earlier in the day during Free Practice 3.

"I went to FP3 and again I was easily four or five tenths off, and I was thinking, ‘Jesus, where am I going to get that pace?’," said Hamilton.

"I went and left the track between P3 and Qualifying – I went back to my motorhome – came back and then Q1 I was first, so I knew I had good balance and I was really comfortable in that first session.

"Q2 was a little bit harder with traffic and everything, and then these guys [Mercedes] did a great lap naturally, and congrats to George. But we’re in a good position to be able to fight for tomorrow, so we have a race."