Lewis Hamilton conceded that his final laps in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix were "not good enough" as he finished in eighth for Sunday's race. 

While Max Verstappen took a sensational pole away from McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, Hamilton looked short of table-topping pace throughout the session.

In the end, he was only eighth-fastest – behind both Mercedes and Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar – and was three-tenths off Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in fourth.

Hamilton has the second-most wins (five) and podiums (eight) around the track at Suzuka, more than anyone on the current grid, but acknowledged he has work to do in the race. 

"I generally struggled," Hamilton said, "And when I got to Q3, I wasn't able to improve.

"Had a big snap oversteer in the middle sector on the first lap and then the second lap. I was only down in that sector. Not where I want to be."

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Hamilton revealed that Ferrari are running a higher ride-height on their car this weekend, as a result of their disqualifications a fortnight ago in China. 

But the seven-time world champion said he was confident ahead of Sunday's race, with the possibility of rain forecast.  

"We are running higher than we'd like," Hamilton said. "I don't know if everyone is in the same boat in that respect. It's higher than we want to be from the weekend before. 

"Charles did a great lap. I had a lot of understeer and couldn't dial it up for qualifying.

On the potential for a wet race, the 40-year-old added: "I'm excited; I love the rain. It'll be tricky. If you have a qualifying like that, you hope for rain, so hopefully it stays."

Hamilton is ninth in the constructors' standings, having won the sprint race in Shanghai, but will be looking for a strong start on Sunday to make up some positions early on.

The Brit's team-mate, Leclerc, however, was satisfied with his lap in the final stage of qualifying.

"I think the lap was really, really good," Leclerc said.

"Not much I could have done better. We unlocked some performances yesterday. Today in qualifying, it started to go away from us a little bit, especially in Q3.

"Overall, the lap... I was really happy with it. There's still a big gap to McLaren and Red Bull, but as a whole, it's been positive. I feel a lot more confident with the car."