Trulli in confident mood for the race

The Italian, who is out of contract at the end of the season but still has an outside chance of remaining with the team he joined in late 2004, needs to finish at least fifth to have a chance of taking seventh in the championship ahead of Nico Rosberg.

"The car feels strong and I think we are looking pretty good for the race, so I'm looking forward to the fight," said Trulli.

"It was a difficult session because it was an extremely hard fight in hot conditions; the laptimes were really close despite it being a long circuit. I felt I got it right in each session and I am happy with sixth place.

"It's fun to be fighting at the front of the grid so it was a nice experience again for me. Obviously you always want to be even higher but we have done a good job so far this weekend and we deserved to be in the top six."

Kamui Kobayashi, who is filling in for Timo Glock in the second Toyota, was disappointed to miss out on making Q3, but is confident of getting into contention for a points finish from 12th on the grid.

"I was hoping to be in the top 10 here but it was my first time in Formula 1 to qualify in dry conditions, so I needed to get used to it," said the Japanese after the second qualifying session of his grand prix career.

"Free practice has gone well all weekend and the car felt good. Qualifying wasn't easy but in the end I was only a tenth or so away from the top 10 so for my first time qualifying in the dry it's not bad.

"I have been trying to focus on my race pace this weekend so I am quite confident for tomorrow. I will try my best and I hope to fight for the points again; we'll see what we can do."