Hamilton surprised at pole

The Briton set his 1m24.010s pole time early in Q3 and it could not be beaten.

Team-mate Jenson Button eventually moved into second to give McLaren a front row sweep.

"I think practice was a lot better for me, I did much better laps in practice," said Hamilton, who was faster on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

"Generally I didn't think that lap was anywhere near good enough and I was up a couple of tenths on my second lap, but I was in a train of cars so was not able to better my lap.

"Nonetheless I am happy, and happy for team - they are doing a fantastic job.

"They had great success in the last race with Jenson and to have us both up here is what they deserve."

Although Hamilton's future has been a hot topic of conversation this weekend as stories of a potential 2013 Mercedes move emerged, the poleman insisted his concentration was completely on the race.

"I haven't had any distractions this weekend so it's been positive," said Hamilton.

"The support from family and friends has been incredible so I'm enjoying the weekend, and it's been pretty smooth weekend."