Montoya says mistake cost him chance of pole

MELBOURNE, Apr 1 (Reuters) McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya said he only had himself to blame for missing his chance to grab pole position for tomorrow's Australian Formula One Grand Prix.

The Colombian qualified fifth fastest after lapping the Albert Park circuit in one minute, 25.976 seconds but was left to rue a wasted opportunity to book a place at the front of the grid.

Montoya's best completed lap was less than eight-tenths of a second behind pole sitter Jenson Button, but the 31-year-old would have posted an even faster time had his enthusiasm not got the better of him.

Montoya was on course to improve on Button's best time after he covered the first two timed sectors faster than the Briton, but his flying lap eventually counted for nothing when he spun off course on the final third sector.

''I'm quite disappointed as I think we could have been on the front row if I hadn't messed it up,'' he told reporters.

''I came into turn five a bit too aggressively, hit the kerb and lost it and that was it.'' Despite being relegated to the third row, just one spot behind his Finnish team mate Kimi Raikkonen, Montoya said he was still upbeat about his prospects in the race because of the improved reliability of the McLaren this season.

''The car feels great and I know we have a strong strategy for the race but I have just made things a bit more difficult for myself,'' he said.

FINN UPBEAT Raikkonen was also upbeat about his prospects after qualifying on the second row alongside world champion Fernando Alonso.

''My qualifying today was okay but not perfect,'' Raikkonen said.

''The race tomorrow should be exciting and I think we are in with a good chance.

''It should be possible for us to get our package to work perfectly so we will see what happens.

''I'm looking forward to it that is for sure.'' McLaren team boss Ron Dennis said the two cars might have qualified higher had it not been for the weather, which fluctuated between rain, wind and sunshine.

''Considering our race strategy we can be quite pleased with the outcome of qualifying,'' he said.

''The variable track conditions throughout today made things more of a challenge but the team coped very well adapting to the changing weather.'' REUTERS PM DS1250