Hamilton suspects RBR unbeatable

Hamilton and his team-mate Jenson Button will start third and fifth respectively at Barcelona, with Red Bull on the front row and nearly a second clear of the field.

Asked if he could see any chance to get ahead of the Red Bulls, Hamilton joked: "The old circuit is still there at the last two corners, I could use the [old, faster] last two corners to match their pace if I don't take the chicane... otherwise, no!"

He added: "They have one second in qualifying, probably a second and a bit. But we will push as hard as we can, and push to save tyres in the run.

"We've been closer in previous races. I think we will be closer than one second [in race pace], but whether it is within a tenth or so we will see."

Hamilton said there was no great sense of frustration at Red Bull's current advantage, which he just saw as natural part of the Formula 1 cycle.

"F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, nothing comes easy," he said. "They have just done a better job. We are second quickest, we can't complain too much.

"I hope at some stage we have a significant improvement with the car so we have a proper race with these guys."

The Briton also played down the consequences of the tyre lock-up and flat-spot that occurred on his best Q3 lap.

"I can start on these tyres and we can rebalance the wheel so it shouldn't be a problem," he said.