Hamilton not worried about reliability

World champion Alonso was unable to set a laptime in the final segment of qualifying after being hit by a gearbox problem the team could not fix before the end of the session.

Alonso will start from 10th place on the grid, his chances of fighting on top already compromised on a circuit where overtaking will be hard.

Hamilton, who has finished all races on the podium, qualified in second position, and the Briton admitted he was not worried about his car's reliability.

He said, however, that McLaren need to work harder to avoid problems like Alonso's.

"I don't really know what happened to Fernando, I was behind him and saw a little bit of smoke at one of the corners and then he came in," said Hamilton. "It's unfortunate for him and the team, but at last one of us is up there and can fight a little bit for the team.

"I'm not not really worried (about Alonso's problems). I don't focus on anyone else but myself. But as a team we also need to push really hard to improve reliability, so this is just a sign that we need to push a bit more."

Despite his problems, team boss Ron Dennis is still optimistic Alonso will still be able to enjoy a strong race.

"So far this year we have not suffered from any major technical problems during race weekends and it's disappointing that the first one ruined Fernando's qualifying session today," said Dennis. "He had the speed to qualify on the front row.

"However with a good strategy he should be able to make up some positions in tomorrow's race, and with the suspected rain adding some unpredictability we may be able to turn this to our advantage."