Rosberg realistic on chances for race

Rosberg, who enjoyed his strongest weekend of the season in the previous race in Singapore, was unable to repeat his performance and will start the Fuji event from 15th place.

The Williams driver, second in Singapore, admitted his chances of a good result tomorrow are slim.

"It wasn't very nice to qualify 15th today, especially having come from Singapore where I finished on the podium, but that's the reality," said Rosberg.

"We've struggled a bit this weekend, but we were expecting to be less competitive here as we just seem to be missing something on these types of circuits.

"I'm keeping my expectations for the race in check, particularly if it stays dry, but we could have a better chance of doing well if it rains.

"I'm happy with my qualifying lap though, and Kazuki's been doing a really good job all weekend. He's been a little bit quicker than me and I'm pleased for him as he's in front of his home crowd. But this weekend isn't over yet; we'll see what tomorrow brings."

Teammate Kazuki Nakajima also had a difficult day on his way to 14th place on the grid.

"After a strong run in the practice sessions that was a difficult qualifying, but we did do our best," said Nakajima.

"I don't think that this afternoon's conditions suited the car that much and some traffic interrupted my last run, which didn't help me either. We now need to prepare a good strategy for tomorrow's race."