Saturday March 22, 03:07 PM

Hamilton tries to stay positive

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By John O'Brien

SEPANG, Malaysia (Reuters) - Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton had what amounted to a bad day at the office in qualifying fourth for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver was a rookie sensation last season, missing out on the title by a single point to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, and he carried that good form over to this campaign with a season-opening victory in Melbourne last week.

He arrived in Malaysia full of confidence and was quickest in Friday's practice, but looked short of pace 24 hours later to miss out on a front-row position for the first time since last September's Belgian Grand Prix.

"There didn't seem to be much grip in the tyres during the final session and I just struggled a bit," Hamilton told reporters.

"It was tough finding gaps in the traffic, which had an effect on my ability to warm up the brakes and manage the tyres."

Brazil's Felipe Massa took pole in 1:35.748 ahead of Raikkonen as Ferrari locked up the front-row of the grid, while Hamilton's Finnish team mate also out-qualified the 23-year-old Briton.

"To be honest, I didn't do a perfect job today and I will study the data to see how I can go faster tomorrow," Hamilton added.

"I was a tenth of a second behind Heikki but quite a long way off the Ferraris, so it will be interesting what their strategy is," added the Briton, who slid off the track in Saturday's final free practice and looked a little uneasy on subsequent laps.

"In testing the set-up was not too bad and yesterday (Friday) I went home quite happy," he added.

"We changed some things today and I'm not really sure whether it was the right way to go or not but we'll see tomorrow.

If it rains on Sunday, McLaren will have more chance of matching the Ferraris for pace around the testing Sepang Circuit although Hamilton still believes anything is possible should it remain dry.

McLaren finished one-two in Malaysia last year, despite Massa again being on pole.

"I wouldn't say we were on the back foot but for sure they (Ferrari) have got a very quick car," said Hamilton.

"But they did last year and we took them at the first corner so we've got to remain positive.

"We've got to get good points and I think we can still do that."