Hamilton surprised by Ferrari's pace

The Briton had to settle for third place, sharing the second row with teammate Heikki Kovalainen, and admitted that McLaren are losing significant time in the second sector.

"We thought we would be a little bit quicker, but were surprised by the Ferrari pace," he said.

"I was happy with how the session went, my lap was quite good, there were no problems with traffic, and the car felt generally good. I felt I had two solid laps.

"I think we lost out a lot in traction in sector two, probably going up the straight and through the tunnel. And in the last sector the time is in stopping in the corners and not being able to brake as late."

But Hamilton believes he will still be able to challenge Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen for victory tomorrow.

"In practice, doing a lap was quite easy and I was able to push more if I wanted to. We were confident I had the pace but in Q3 it was more about being on the limit. We'll push very hard in the race and we will be able to compete."