Hamilton: I thought I lost pole position

Qualifying for the Austrian GP ended in "bizarre" fashion, but Lewis Hamilton admitted he wasn't too concerned about losing pole in the end as he was more worried about his car.

Hamilton was in provisional pole ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg after posting a 1:08.455 in his earlier run in Q3 on Saturday afternoon and was on course to go even faster in his final flying lap.

However, the reigning World Champion went off at Turn 1 and that left the door open for Rosberg to take pole as the German was faster through sector two. But instead of snatching P1, Rosberg lost his way at the final corner and went into the gravel.

"A bizarre but brilliant front row lockout!" was the response from the Mercedes team after qualifying as Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari was only third fastest.

Although relieved that his time earlier in the session was good enough for P1, Hamilton says he was more concerned about his car after he went off track.

"It generally was quite a difficult qualifying session for everyone with the track conditions. I was grateful I got my third lap in on the first run in Q3. I was pushing that bit extra on the next run and just locked the rears.

"I wasn't too concerned about losing pole at that time because I was trying to get the car going. That was the most concerning for me, but obviously afterwards I was thinking: 'I probably lost it there.'"

The race is not won on the Saturday though and Hamilton is wary of the Ferrari threat as Vettel was fastest in FP2 and FP3.

"Ferrari have really showed some great pace this weekend as have the Williams so tomorrow's going to be a tough race," he said. "I don't think the tyres are going to be a problem, but every little bit of time will count tomorrow."