Lewis Hamilton says he lost rhythm after early Q3 error

SPIELBERG, Austria -- Lewis Hamilton blamed his own error for losing out on pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix to Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton finished just 0.019s behind Bottas in the final standings, a deficit Mercedes said equated to just 1.3 metres of the 4.318 kilometre Red Bull Ring. The reigning world champion said an error at the beginning of Q3, where he missed the apex at Turn 3 and ran off the racing line, ruined the rhythm he had taken into the final session.

"Firstly congratulations to Valtteri, he did a fantastic job to be on pole today," Hamilton said after qualifying. "It had gone relatively well, a good weekend, pace was relatively good throughout…