Macau: Lewis has pole dilemma

The fact that the Macau starting grid leads into a very long straight down to Lisboa, interrupted by the flat-out Mandarin Bend, often means that the driver who gets away first is quickly swallowed up by the cars behind him who benefit from his slipstream.

A variety of tactics have been used in the past - including Takuma Sato famously deliberately getting away slow off the line to make sure he was second on the run down to Lisboa in 2001 - and now Hamilton faces an anxious evening pondering his own strategy.

Speaking to autosport.com about the dilemma he faces - whether to go flat-out from the start or try and get away tactically second - he said: "I don't know what I will do - and I need a long think about it tonight. It is obviously important what I do.

"It is going to be tough. I can either go for it and definitely lose a few places down the straight, or I can back off a little bit and make my way back up - but that is a gamble.

"I think the only thing you can do is just go for it and see how it goes. Even if I get a better start than other people I will lose some places there, but I can try and defend my line and see how it goes."