McLAREN officials were delighted at securing pole position and third place for tomorrow s Australian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton will start from first place on the grid in Melbourne, with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes colleague Heikki Kovalainen just behind hi

McLAREN officials were delighted at securing pole position and third place for tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton will start from first place on the grid in Melbourne, with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes colleague Heikki Kovalainen just behind him on the second row.

Team principal Ron Dennis thought it was a fine performance by the team at Albert Park ahead of the 2008 FIA Formula 1 World Championship opener.

Dennis said: "Both Lewis and Heikki have done an excellent job so far this weekend.

"Hopefully today's result represents our performance for the future and we will be focussing on maintaining this throughout the rest of the season."

Those thoughts were echoed by Norbert Haug, vice president of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport.

He said: "A perfect start to the season. Lewis' pole position and Heikki's third place are good preconditions as both their cars will be starting on the line with the better grip.

"Both drivers did a great job and the team worked perfectly.

"Our strategy is good, and our speed looked OK so far.

"We are looking forward to a challenging race tomorrow."

Tewin race ace Hamilton was third on his F1 debut in Melbourne last season.

Pole position gives him a great chance of moving a couple of steps up the podium this time around and securing the fifth race victory of his career.