Niki Lauda says Lewis Hamilton's pole lap for the Malaysian Grand Prix was down to his skill as a driver rather than the tweaks Mercedes made to his car ahead of qualifying.
Mercedes headed into qualifying on the back foot, having struggled with balance and set-up problems throughout all three practice sessions in Sepang. The team split its set-up for final practice, and continued that approach for qualifying, with Valtteri Bottas running an updated aero package and Hamilton reverting back to the older spec W08.
With Vettel out of qualifying in Q1 following an issue with his engine, Hamilton took full advantage to claim the 70th pole position of his career -- and his fifth in Malaysia -- with an impressive lap, pipping the sole remaining Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen by just 0.