Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes were well aware of the task they face in defending their respective Formula One championships and qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku has only reinforced the scale of it. Hamilton was beaten to pole by an imperious Sebastian Vettel, who drove a remarkable lap to confirm that Ferrari have the upper hand. The British driver and his team have been ousted for the moment from the comfort zone they have enjoyed in winning the last four world championships.

Vettel’s lap was a tour de force, especially through the tight middle sector, threading the needle on Baku’s narrow streets. Crucially it came at a circuit where the power advantage Mercedes have previously enjoyed made them favourites but this time they could not match the Scuderia.

Vettel set his best time of 1min 41.498 on his first hot lap in Q3 and Hamilton, who was second with a perfectly good run, was just under two tenths back. The German, who leads Hamilton by nine points in the world championship, had not hooked his car up until Saturday practice but eventually found his groove and is clearly confident in his machinery.

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“It will be an interesting race, anything can happen here,” he said. “The good point is that our car was really good this afternoon, so we should be in a good place tomorrow. Yesterday I struggled a bit but today it just clicked. We can’t be much happier with how the day went.”

It is a feeling Hamilton has enjoyed for the past four years, during which time he has won three titles. But his team, who also took third on the grid with Valtteri Bottas, know they have their work cut out to match their rivals. For Hamilton there was acceptance rather than disappointment.

“We weren’t quite quick enough to beat Ferrari today but it was super close,” he said. “No athlete can be satisfied with second but it’s nice to be back up on the front row after an exciting session. We need to maximise the result tomorrow. Let’s try and make some trouble for Ferrari.”

For Ferrari Baku confirms the veracity of their challenge. It is the team’s third consecutive pole position in 2018. The German already has two victories while Mercedes remain winless. That the Scuderia have a car that is well-balanced and formidable in switching on its tyres had become evident over the opening races but in Baku, the first power-dominated circuit of the season, they proved their package is robust in every facet.

Mercedes, in contrast, still face the principal issue of finding the sweet spot for their tyres’ operating window. The team are confident the car is quick but bringing its optimal performance to differing conditions is proving tricky and Hamilton admitted they had instituted considerable setup changes overnight in a bid to make their rubber work.

Cooler temperatures and higher winds are predicted for the race, both of which will need to be managed on on Sunday but they can be optimistic. Baku boasted the most passes last year with 42 manoeuvres and Hamilton conceded his team may have been running less downforce in qualifying but may gain time on the long straights over race distance.

Ferrari, though, will be confident they have the pace to stay out of trouble. Vettel’s team-mate, Kimi Räikkonen also put in a blistering lap on his final run and could have claimed pole but for being too aggressive through turn 16. Though he finished sixth, here was further confirmation of the car’s inherent pace.

Hamilton has only one pole this season. Last year he scored 12 and was often able to exploit them by running at the front, which the Mercedes prefers to running in turbulent air. Ferrari and Vettel will clearly allow no such luxury this year. Both drivers have four titles and at this stage Vettel has the front foot in taking a fifth. “Obviously they’ve made a big step forward this year,” Hamilton said, “and they are the number one team to beat at the moment.”