Paffett feels fourth is deserved

Several drivers have said that the session was a complete lottery due to the changeable weather conditions, but the 2005 champion has said that fourth position is roughly where he would have expected to be in the dry.

Paffett was the only driver in older machinery to get through to the final segment of qualifying, as the rest of the top eight is made up of 2007-specification cars.

"I don't think our position flatters us," Paffett told autosport.com. "We were fifth in the dry practice in the morning, so this is where we should be."

Paffett has three 2007-spec Mercedes in front of him, but the British driver is still confident that he can fight for a podium finish.

"With the pace we've had you've got to think that a podium is a realistic goal for the race," he added.

"Mercedes are having a good weekend, and of course it is important to score a good result as a team, but at the end of the day we are all racing drivers so we will try to fight for ourselves at the same time."