Hamilton upbeat despite second row start at Turkish GP

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ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) - Young British Formula One star Lewis Hamilton was smiling again Sunday morning as he looked ahead to the Turkish Grand Prix with unexpected optimism.

The 23-year-old Englishman, who had qualified third on the grid after blaming himself for a wrong selection of tyres in Saturday's shootout, said Sunday that, after examining all the data, he believed he was right.

And he added to that by saying he believed he was in with a decent chance of ending a run of Ferrari supremacy since he won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

As the sun brought some welcome spring warmth to the Istanbul Park circuit on the Asian side of the Bosphorous, Hamilton talked up his chances of victory and claimed his tyre choice was, in fact, correct.

He said: "Coming into Q3 I had to make a decision and the team rely on me to make that decision.

"At the end of the day, I'm the one who's out there. It is only me who really knows what's going on, and I think we actually did make the right decision - that was the best tyre for us.

"At the time I thought this wasn't the tyre I should have used but I've just been looking at the data and it was the right decision.

"In Q2, it was clear the option tyre wasn't good for me. And my engineer just told me my decision was right."

Brazilian Felipe Massa starts on pole for Ferrari with McLaren's Finnish driver Heikki Kovalianen second alongside him, after returning from his high-speed crash in Spain two weeks ago.

Hamilton is third and defending world champion and early-season leader Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari is fourth.

Hamilton said his frustration at missing out on pole position was because he is desperate to get back to winning ways, having seen Ferrari win the last three races.

"For sure, we're third and it's better than we've had for the last few races, so it's not all doom and gloom," he said.

"And we're in a good position to be able to attack on the first lap, and we're in a good position to challenge for the win, but it's going to be tough.

"I want to win just as much as anyone else and sometimes you feel something's not 100 per cent and it needs to be improved."

However, on the back of a hard chase of Ferrari in the Spanish Grand Prix, Hamilton is optimistic that McLaren remain a serious threat.

"I already felt coming into this weekend that we would be a bit closer to them. They are quick here, as they have been for the last two or three years. But we have a chance and I aim to go for it.

"We just need to be patient. We've obviously got a lot more improvements coming over the next few months and the team are pushing very hard."