Whitmarsh says pole position in Korea will cheer Hamilton up

"I'm sure pole will cheer Lewis up, not as much as a race win, but for any racing driver being on pole position is a proud moment," Whitmarsh told the BBC after the British driver secured his first pole of the season.

"To be sort of on the top step on Sunday is probably a little bit better. He's set himself up to be in a good position tomorrow. I think we've got a reasonable balance.

"It's still a little bit of an unknown just how the tyres are going to survive but I think it will be quite intriguing. Hopefully we can get the job done, we'll see tomorrow."

Although Whitmarsh conceded the team was mainly targeting victory on Sunday, he did admit ending Red Bull's run of poles was a good feeling.

"Obviously we are here to win races but pole feels fairly good if you haven't had one for a long time," he said.

"We've missed a few that we felt we should have had this year, so I think both drivers did a great job. Sebastian also does a pretty good job himself in qualifying, so to come out on top [of him] in qualifying is important, but I think tomorrow's another day, it's a long race.

"There are going to be some interesting tyre decisions and some interesting strategies. I think ourselves, Red Bull and Ferrari - who knows? It could go anyway, but I think both of our guys fancy their chances tomorrow."