26/04/2008 21:17

Barcelona - Lewis Hamilton said he was "shocked and stunned" on Saturday after qualifying only fifth on the grid for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

The 23-year-old Briton struggled again with his McLaren Mercedes car as he battled to recapture the form that brought him victory in the season-opening race at Melbourne.

He said he had expected to be fast enough to be challenging for pole - won by defending champion Kimi Raikkonen in a Ferrari - and not toiling for performance.

He said: "I've just looked at the times and we obviously didn't have it. We seemed to be quite quick on the single lap, but I'm just shocked and stunned that we didn't have the pace of the heavy fuel load."

Hamilton added that he remained confident for the race and vowed to try and make up places at the start of the race.

Asked whether he was concerned about starting in the pack, Hamilton replied: "It shouldn't be such a problem, obviously up there you are with all the professional drivers so they all want to finish.

"We need to make sure we get a good start and make sure we make a few places up at the beginning," he added.

"I think our race pace is quite good so I still feel quite confident but it's just a shame we are not further up."

He added: "Throughout qualifying one and two the car felt extremely well balanced, but it's so close which means that it will be an exciting race.

"Being on the third row is not the end of the world as we are surrounded by good drivers.

"The key is now to make a strong start and hopefully gain a couple of positions, and I am confident as I believe our race pace is competitive, and we have a good strategy."

His McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen of Finland was sixth.

He said: "I didn't expect to be on the third row as I thought the last part of qualifying wasn't too bad. However the times are very close and with just a tiny bit more I would have been able to gain a few positions.

"But that is life! We will now dig deep, and tomorrow is another long day where anything can happen."