'We've got to work harder' – Hamilton reflects on missing out on pole position in Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton believes himself and Ferrari have "got to work harder" in order to increase performance, having missed out on pole position for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

The Briton headed into Qualifying on the back foot after crashing head-on into the barrier at the final corner in Free Practice 3, eventually stopping his damaged car after calls from the team to pull over on the way back to the pits.

The missed track time earlier on Saturday didn't seem to hamper the seven-time World Champion, though, and Hamilton sat on provisional pole position after the first flying laps in the pivotal Q3 session.

But Hamilton slipped down to fourth in the final reckoning despite improving his time and finishing less than two tenths behind polesitter, Lando Norris.

"The only thing to say about FP3 is nothing. Qualifying was pretty decent," said Hamilton when asked to reflect on his day.

"Generally been feeling pretty decent. It takes everything for us to be able to compete with the two powerhouse motors [Mercedes and McLaren] ahead.

"They just seem to be able to turn the engine up or something when we get to Qualifying which we can't match. We've got to work harder."

Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc finished directly behind Hamilton and was also within two tenths of Norris' top time, with the Monegasque believing he over-drove in the final segment of Qualifying.

"I think the lap was pretty good in Q3, it's a tricky Qualifying where you've got to go fully committed into Q3 and I did that," he said.

"But I felt like I maybe went over the limit a little in some corners and lost a little bit on top of maybe losing down the straights a bit because of running the older spec [engine].

"But at the end, that's on me. I think we did a good job today and we maximised our potential."