Hamilton - it could have been better

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton admitted there is still room for improvement despite taking pole position for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.

Hamilton's one minute 26.714 seconds was good enough to edge out Robert Kubica's BMW Sauber by 0.155secs, with McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen third at Albert Park.

"I could do better," he said. "Being on pole is a great feeling but you can always do better. Finding gaps is tricky, but I'm happy with the result."

The young Briton hit the front midway through Qualifying Three, setting a time of 1min 27.092secs, with Massa well-placed in second and Kovalainen third, albeit half a second adrift.

As the session expired, Kubica was the first to lay down the gauntlet, recording a lap of 1:26.869 although he lost vital fractions after running wide at turn 12.

And it proved crucial as Hamilton bettered the Pole's mark with a tidy effort to ensure he will start the 58-lap showdown from the best possible position.

He added: "Q1 was very, very close. I didn't get a good lap but in the last session, I was able to string it out and put the sectors together."

Kubica, meanwhile, hailed his second and team-mate Heidfeld's fifth place on the grid as a "great achievement" for BMW.

"I made a mistake in turn 12 and we took quite a lot of risk but it didn't pay off," he said. "But it's a great achievement by the team.

Kovalainen was also satisfied with third, and said: "It was fairly smooth, I was just trying to take things steady, not make any mistakes and push a bit more."