Hayden: The tyre warmer melted to disc.

Nicky Hayden may have inherited a podium position in Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix - following the last lap downfall of his team-mate Dani Pedrosa - and with it the world championship lead, but the Repsol Honda rider believes more was possible if it hadn't suffered an unusual braking problem.

Although Hayden didn't actually lead Sunday's 22 lap race, he was in contention for victory for almost the entire race distance - holding second place, behind Pedrosa, from laps 13 to 16 - but the American then dropped to the back of the four-strong lead group and eventually finished five-seconds behind runner-up Casey Stoner at the chequered flag.

Afterwards the laid-back American, who was starting his 50th MotoGP race, explained he'd lacked a little confidence on the brakes - after a tyre warmer had melted onto the disc - which prevented him pushing to the maximum at crucial moments.

"Before the race the tyre warmer melted to the disc and I thought about coming into the pits on the warm up lap," revealed Hayden. "The brakes actually came in pretty good, but all through the race I felt a bit sloppy on the brakes - it didn't feel perfect. The other guys were riding real fast and braking really deep, so perhaps that's what it was it! At the end I just didn't get it done, I make no excuses.

"The Repsol Honda team really did a good job - and the Michelins worked very well. I'm really happy to keep the podium streak alive and leading the world championship is something to be proud of - it's a good accomplishment for me - but it's only three races in so I'm not going to jump up and down just yet," said Nicky after his seventh podium in a row. "I've gotta keep working hard and stay focused and really I've gotta win races if I'm going threaten for the title."

Hayden is now one-point ahead of Ducati's Loris Capirossi in the 2006 championship standings.