Happy Hulkenberg eyeing Q3

The German driver posted a promising sixth quickest time in this afternoon's practice and is hopeful he can also enjoy a strong Saturday and finish the weekend with some points.

"It's still very difficult to form a picture of where everyone is at competitively, but I am satisfied that we had a relatively good day today and managed to compete everything we set out to do," said Hulkenberg.

"The ambition remains the same, to make sure we get through to Q3 and to finish the weekend with some points."

Team-mate Rubens Barrichello was unable to complete his programme after some problems cut his running short.

The Brazilian finished as 13th fastest.

"Because we had some minor issues in the garage today, we didn't get as much track time as we wanted," he said. "We didn't manage to finish our programme, but I am confident tomorrow will be a better day and we will catch up on the lost time.

"There has been an enormous amount of work and effort from everyone at Williams to get this far, which deserves my thanks."