Hamilton admits to 'less than perfect' lap

The Melbourne winner was out-qualified by his McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen, and lapped 0.9 seconds slower than pole-winner Felipe Massa's Ferrari.

But Hamilton said there were no unusual circumstances other than a lack of grip and some traffic on his out-lap.

"There didn't seem to be as much grip in the tyres during the final session, and I just struggled a bit," he said.

"Also it was tough finding a gap in the traffic, which had an effect on my ability to warm up the brakes and manage the tyres.

"To be honest I didn't do a perfect job today, and I will study the data to see how I can go faster tomorrow. We have to stay positive though as we are still in a good position and anything can happen in the race."

Team boss Ron Dennis said he was not downcast about McLaren's second row positions and remained confident they could challenge Ferrari in the race.

"A good job by both drivers, with two solid grid positions for tomorrow's race," he said.

"Obviously it would be preferable to be starting from the first rather than second row, but we fully expected to face stronger competition here this weekend and are comfortable with our race strategy."