Mercedes not expecting easy race

Mercedes drivers filled the first four places on the grid in the wet session, but Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug believes that Audi are stronger than they were able to show in qualifying.

"When you have these weather conditions you need to stay out and do as many laps as you can, and then hope that you are lucky," said Haug.

"Sometimes you get it right, and apparently we did. But what happened to Audi could have happened to us."

Haug doesn't believe that the grid order gives a good indication of how the race will go, as he believes that the top half of the field will be very close in the race.

"The grid is by no means the race result at a track like this," he added. "We have an advantage with our grid positions, but it is no guarantee.

"It is impossible to judge the result of the race from this, and I think we will see a different situation tomorrow."

Audi's head of motorsport Wolfgang Ullrich added that the team did not get their setup right for the final segment of qualifying, where the track began to dry in the closing stages.

"In these conditions every lap is faster so you need some luck," he said. "But we were not beaten by the weather, we were too slow.

"You need to get the tyre pressures right because everyone tried to stay out and do as many laps as possible, and we did not get it right."