Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda believes no other driver on the Formula One grid could have replicated Lewis Hamilton's final Q3 attempt which secured pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
After making a mistake on his initial effort in the final part of qualifying, Hamilton put together a majestic final lap to take his 66th career pole position by 0.466s at the expense of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas. The final stages of qualifying were more intense than ever after a brief red flag stoppage caused by Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull meant all of the drivers did not have additional time to prepare the tyres and thus had one flying lap for pole.
After struggling for pace on Friday, Lauda admits Mercedes was on the back foot going into qualifying but hails the work the team has done in improving the car which in turn helped Mercedes secure its first front-row lockout since Bahrain.
"The team really did a fantastic job to set the car up in the right way and Lewis with his lap here, I have never seen anything like it," Lauda told Sky Sports. "It was not plain sailing at all, but I tell you, a lot of thinking, digging back to the factory, forward and whatsoever, and in the end the improvements they did, the engineers and all the mechanics did to the car today is outstanding. And then what Lewis did today, nobody else I think can do that.''
Hamilton moves into second outright in the all-time pole position standings and is on course to match Michael Schumacher's tally of 68 at the British Grand Prix should he take pole at the Red Bull Ring in two weeks' time.
Lauda added: "He's fantastic, especially I am now thinking about his lap time here. The difference he makes to everybody is only Lewis. So fantastic."