Lisbon, Oct 24 (IANS): Lewis Hamilton on Saturday beat his Mercedes team mate Valterri Bottas by 0.1 seconds to take his 97th pole position in the qualifiers ahead of the Portuguese Grand Prix at the Algarve International Circuit. Hamilton was second best to Bottas in all three practice sessions and the first two segments of qualifying.

Bottas took one flying lap during the final run while Hamilton opted for two. While the Finn went faster than his team mate in his lap, Hamilton beat him in the second. Red Bull's Max Verstappen took third while Ferrari got on the front row with Charles LeClerc taking P4 thanks to a scintillating show that stands among his best this year.

Racing Point's Sergio Perez was an impressive fifth, one place ahead of Alex Albon, half a second slower than Red Bull team mate Verstappen, while Carlos Sainz won the battle of the McLarens but only just with 0.005s separating him from Lando Norris.