Hamilton says pole was possible

Hamilton, who showed no ill-effects from his practice shunt that required McLaren to rebuild his car around the team's spare tub, said that while his lap was good enough for the inside of the second row, it could have been better.

"For sure it was a decent lap but I am sure as always there is time to gain," he said.

"Inevitably if it was a perfect lap I think we could have had pole but we will go back and study it and look forward to the race, I think we have a good strategy for the race and tomorrow will be quite interesting."

Hamilton added that while he had noted the pace of the Ferraris, he was always confident McLaren could compete with them.

"They seem to have outstanding pace at the moment, but in qualifying I was happy with the balance we had and knew we would be able to challenge at least for the front row," he said.

The Briton also brushed off any suggestion of lingering thoughts from his free practice shunt.

"For me, it was easy to get back in car and go faster," he said. "Today I went quicker through that corner on the first lap than yesterday, it was important to really knock down that barrier and bounce back.

"I never have a problem with that, I have had plenty of experiences like that in my career."