Kubica says not held up by Hamilton

Speaking to UK broadcaster ITV, Kubica said that while there was enough of a distance between him and the McLaren, it was impossible to put the car in front completely out his mind.

"The last lap I had Lewis Hamilton in front of me, but he didn't hold me up, but when you have a car in front there is always a kind of risk," he said.

The 23-year-old, who eventually qualified fifth on the grid for Sunday's race, further hampered his last attempt by slowing on his out lap to create space between himself and Hamilton.

"On the out-lap I tried build-up enough of a gap between myself and him, so that I didn't have to overtake him on my flying lap. I cooled my tyres down too much, so in the first sector I was much slower, three tenths off the run before.

"I managed to pull everything back from the last sector.

"But yes I was pushing all through qualifying, every single lap, and this was all that I could do."