Briton Lewis Hamilton took his third pole position of the season and the 150th of McLaren's Formula One history with a dazzling lap in the final minute of Saturday's qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The 27-year-old Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, clocked a best lap of 1min 21.707sec to finish half a second clear of nearest rival, Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado of Williams, at the end of a closely-contested and highly-tactical session.