I felt like James Brown: F1 pacesetter

Lewis Hamilton felt like James Brown: sexy, in beautiful rhythm.

For the 50th time in his Formula One career, the Mercedes star sits in pole position after stunning drives in Saturday's qualifying session at the Australian Grand Prix.

"There were some sexy laps," Hamilton said.

"They felt so good. Just flowing and no real mistakes.

" ... What I mean by sexy laps, they were just that, when you finished, the car felt good, moved, it was like a beautiful rhythm.

"Felt like James Brown at the end of the lap."

The Englishman was almost half a second quicker around Melbourne's Albert Park circuit than the next best, his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton's feats emphatically confirmed his status as favourite to not only win Sunday's season-opening race, but also to claim his third consecutive world title - though he's trying to ignore the hype.

"It was very much the same as usual," he said.

"You have to go out and get your clear laps.

"Maybe there was a little bit more pressure on us as a team and the way we operated but generally we just did the normal in terms of getting the laps."