Hamilton lives up to his billing as rare F1 talent

MELBOURNE, Mar 17 (Reuters) Lewis Hamilton said he was overwhelmed after qualifying his McLaren on the second row for his Formula One debut in Australia today.

It did not appear that way to reporters eager to question the 22-year-old Briton, and team boss Ron Dennis was not fooled either.

The youngest driver on the grand prix starting grid came across like a veteran, startlingly composed and self-assured and without a trace of nerves.

Already in the spotlight as the sport's first black driver, Hamilton's stellar performance on the track was what really mattered today.

It was a measure of the regard that he has already generated that he was asked whether he was disappointed not to have qualified on pole position.

He took the question in his stride, like all the others.

''It's my first Formula One qualifying session. And this is the pinnacle of the sport and I'm with the best drivers in the world,'' said the youngster, who has double world champion Fernando Alonso as a team mate.

''It's not a sport that you can come into and go straight to the front.

''I absolutely didn't expect to get pole. I was just really happy. Second row for my first qualifying session, it's overwhelming. It's more than I could ask for,'' he said.

''The pressure hasn't got to me, I'm able to control and filter it in a way that it works maybe to my advantage,'' he continued.

''But it is intense and it is easy to lose it so I just want to stay relaxed.

''At the end of the day, he (Alonso) is probably expected to do a lot more than me.

''I've got to focus on my job, I've got a lot of respect for Fernando and I know my place and position in the team. But I'm here to do a job and I'm not focused on the outside pressure.

The most pressure comes from myself.'' SPECIAL TALENT Dennis, listening at the back of the room, had only praise for a youngster whose career he has nurtured and groomed for more than a decade and who is now emerging as a very special talent.

''It makes me smile when he says 'I know my place'. It's a great line for him, but he will have every intention of trying to beat Fernando tomorrow. No question,'' he said.

''He's always shown that he was going to be a great driver and I think today demonstrates that fact.

''I said to Anthony, his father, that really the rest of the weekend's a bonus. He hasn't put a foot wrong,'' continued the team boss.

''He's going into his first race and I just hope we don't have a Melbourne first corner incident that involves a quantity of cars and certainly not our cars.

''He's very much like Fernando, they are both very good qualifiers but they are brilliant race drivers...I hope he gets an opportunity tomorrow to show what he's made of and what his real strengths are.'' REUTERS SAM RK1503