Ferrari pair hopeful of stronger race

Brazilian Massa will start from eighth position, one place ahead of Raikkonen, after both men were unable to show the kind of pace needed to fight near the front.

Massa admitted the tricky conditions did not help either.

"This qualifying was a bit of a lottery: first dry, then rain then dry again," said Massa. "It could have gone better, but it could also have gone much worse. I'm not jumping for joy over eighth place, but it's not so bad.

"We have a good strategy aimed at getting us into the points, although a podium seems hard to reach to be honest."

Raikkonen also conceded the session had been difficult, but he too is optimistic his strategy will help him tomorrow.

"It was a pretty complicated session, with track conditions changing all the time," the Finn said. "Therefore, it's difficult to say if this result reflects the real standings down the order.

"Clearly, we were penalized by not having a single set of new tyres for Q3. I believe that in normal conditions we could have got a better grid position. Having said that, we are not in bad shape for the race: we have a good strategy and we will try and make the most of it."