Lewis Hamilton reflects on "great start to the weekend"

World champion Lewis Hamilton has admitted that securing pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix tomorrow morning has made it a "great start to the weekend" for him.

The British driver was 0.594 seconds quicker than his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in qualifying and a full 1.391 seconds clear of Felipe Massa in third spot.

Speaking to BBC Sport, the 30-year-old said: "It has been a great start to the weekend. It doesn't feel that long since the last race.

"It has been a big rush and huge effort form the factory to get us here with this performance. It is so much fun in qualifying and I am just massively grateful for all the hard work."

Hamilton has raced in Melbourne on eight previous occasions, winning just once back in 2008.