Hamilton was cool and composed at his news conference

The 22-year-old McLaren rookie would become the first driver to start his F1 career with three top-three placings.

Hamilton was third on his debut, second in Malaysia last week and did not rule out claiming his maiden win on Sunday.

But he tried to play down the hype by saying: "Yes, I've had two podium finishes but I'm still a rookie."

Hamilton will face stiff competition from team-mate and double world champion Fernando Alonso, who won last year's race in Bahrain, as well as Ferrari duo Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.

However, his confidence is high and Bahrain is the first circuit on the calendar that he has driven on before.

It took fellow Briton Jenson Button 113 starts to record his first win, but Hamilton feels it is a matter of time before he takes the chequered flag.

"I'm pushing and working as hard as I can," he said. "It may be this weekend, it may be the last race of the year, it may be next year."

It is inevitable when you are pushing the car to the limit that you are going to make mistake Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton admitted that luck has been on his side this season and said it was inevitable that something would go wrong at some stage.

"So far I haven't made a mistake," he said. "But we all make mistakes trying to put the car through everything and trying to better ourselves.

"It is inevitable when you are pushing the car to the limit that you are going to make mistakes and it will happen at some point.

"I don't know when but I'll try to deal with it the best way I can when it does happen."

He also paid tribute to the support he had received from Alonso.

"I think Fernando has had a huge impact on the team," he said.

"His enthusiasm, his experience, has definitely brought a lot to the team in terms of developing the car and in pushing the team forward."