Saturday was a day of contradictions for Lewis Hamilton.

The McLaren driver's body language was visibly downcast in the post-qualifying press conference in Turkey, as he partly blamed making the "wrong decision" about using hard tyres in Q3 for failing to qualify higher than third.

After a toilet break and a McLaren debrief, however, he changed his tune.

"I think we did make the right decision and it was the best tyre I could have used, although at the time I didn't think that," Hamilton, who is 23, said.

"I've just looked at the data and it was the right decision. My engineer told me my decision was right."

Hamilton also left some reporters confused as to whether he has or has not contributed $30,000 to the GPDA, after leading members of the drivers' body hit out at top competitors like the Briton who let their lower-paid rivals fund the safety-oriented outfit.

He told reporters after qualifying that he actually did not donate any money, but earlier on Saturday he told The Daily Mirror: "I am happy to put in the money.

"The money has never been the issue."

Source: GMM