Lewis Hamilton admitted he was ‘shocked and stunned' to find himself down in fifth position on the grid for the Spanish Grand Prix – having looked odds-on for a spot on the front row until the dying moments of an ultra-close and competitive qualifying session in Barcelona.
Though McLaren-Mercedes have generally struggled for pace around the Circuit de Catalunya this weekend – traditionally a happy hunting ground for the multiple championship-winning, Woking-based concern – both Hamilton and team-mate
Heikki Kovalainen seemed to be far happier with their MP4-23s during qualifying.
A late effort from the former saw the young Briton join
Felipe Massa on the front row of the grid, a scant four hundredths of a second adrift of his
Ferrari rival and – crucially –
ahead of fellow title contender
Kimi Raikkonen, but with no more time left on the clock he could then only watch in disbelief as first
Robert Kubica, then former team-mate
Fernando Alonso and finally Raikkonen himself all went quicker still.
“I'm shocked and stunned that we didn't have the pace on the heavy fuel load,” Hamilton confessed afterwards, having wound up less than three tenths shy of the top spot. “I'm actually quite surprised that we are not higher up the grid, as the car felt very good and I put in some strong laps.
“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 tomorrow. Being on the third row is not the end of the world, as we are surrounded by good drivers who all want to finish the race.
“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.”
