Hamilton still targets victory from P9

Lewis Hamilton says he will "always go for the win" despite starting the Austrian Grand Prix from ninth on the grid.

Having had his first qualifying time in Q3 deleted for running wide at Turn 8, Hamilton spun at Turn 2 on his final run to ensure that he finished the session without setting a time. However, team-mate Nico Rosberg failed to capitalise fully as he was held up by the yellow flags for Hamilton's spin and will start from third place behind the two Williams cars.

Asked if he was targeting victory from his lowly starting position rather than just a podium, Hamilton replied: "Always.

"Even if I were starting last I'll always go for the win. Obviously it gets harder and harder the further back you go."

And Hamilton said he is looking forward to racing through the field from ninth position on Sunday having not started lower than second so far this season.

"Yeah, I'm excited for it. Starting from pole is always a good thing, it makes things easier, looking after your tyres, all those different things. But then being able to use your abilities to fight your way through is a real cool experience as well.

"I don't know how it's going to go, but I'm going to give it absolutely everything to get as many points as possible. Obviously I didn't get any in the last race, and I didn't help myself today, and for the team's it's really important we do that."

Asked what he thinks caused him to spin, Hamilton replied: "I assume I pressed the brake a bit too hard.

"It hurts a little bit in the gut, but I'll try and make up for it tomorrow."

However, Hamilton doesn't believe his mistake is the result of pressure building after also making errors in Canada and seeing Rosberg extend his championship lead to 22 points.

"I don't think I'm trying too hard. My laps have been pretty good all weekend. I knew I had extra time in my pocket, I pulled it out in my first lap, but didn't finish. The second time round, yeah, I was taking the car into unknown territories, but there's a long way to go so don't rule me out yet.

"Tomorrow I'm going to try to stay out of trouble with all the cars around me where I am, and just take my time. It's not going to be easy as I've very quick cars in front of me, and it's great to see Williams so fast, really good for them to have a front row. Sometimes it's other people's turn, but hopefully tomorrow we'll still have a good race."