Briton confident in reliability of car after team-mate's accident.

Lewis Hamilton insists that he did not let news of McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen's sizeable accident in the Spanish Grand Prix affect his concentration, despite some uncertainty as to whether the Finn's failure was likely to be repeated on his car.

Although McLaren has subsequently suggested that Kovalainen may have been pitched off the road by a debris-induced rim failure, Hamilton was allowed to continue at full race speed in the immediate aftermath of the accident, but he maintains that thoughts of his own safety never occurred.

"For me, at least, [stopping] never crossed my mind, and the team never came onto the radio and said I might need to," the Briton told journalists after the race, "I think the reliability of our car is very, very good. Obviously, we will go back and try and look at - and understand - what happened to Heikki's car, but mine was perfect. I was quite happy with it.

"If you let those things get to your mind, then you are in trouble. You begin making mistakes or putting yourself in the wrong position. It never crossed my mind once. I was quite confident we had done a great job and that the car was reliable, and that enabled me to keep pushing."

Hamilton admitted that, initially, he wasn't sure who had been involved as he passed the scene of the crash behind the safety car, and was concerned for the safety of whoever it was.

"I saw there was a car in the wall, [but] it just looked red, so I didn't know if it was one of us or one of the Ferraris," he revealed, "I did see a glimpse of the footage on the television and it looked very reminiscent of my incident last year at the Nürburgring. I was a bit terrified for whoever it was, as I saw the impact was quite heavy.

"The team eventually told me it was Heikki, but they didn't know how he was immediately. Ron Dennis then came onto the radio halfway through and said he was okay, but slightly concussed."

Although a date has not yet been set for Kovalainen's return, Hamilton shared the team's confidence that the Finn could be back in harness for the next grand prix, in Turkey, early next month.

"Today was unfortunate, but there's no doubt that we will go to the next race, and we will keep pushing together," the Briton said, "I am sure he will bounce back."