Massa delight at ninth spot on the grid

Despite tricky weather conditions the Brazilian, who many believed was out of his depth at this level after a number of pre-season testing crashes, kept a cool head to outpace his more experienced team-mate Nick Heidfeld, who was 10th quickest.

"I wanted to qualify in the top 10 if possible, so I am very pleased to be ninth for my first grand prix," said Massa. "I lost a little bit of time on my first run, and made a small mistake in Turn One on my second, but I'm happy with my time, and I'm grateful to the team for all the help it has given me this weekend.

"I was able to concentrate strongly and do a good performance, and I'm pleased that I haven't made any significant errors. It's a great way to start my F1 career," he added.

Team boss Peter Sauber was happy with his new driver: "Felipe did a good job in his first qualifying and handled all the pressure extremely well. Ninth and 10th positions are satisfactory after an unusual qualifying session, and in several teams it isn't the leader who is in front."