Alonso happy to make it to Q3

The Spaniard, who finished in fourth place in the season opener last Sunday, had urged his Renault team to improve their qualifying form in order to fight for better results.

And Alonso enjoyed a pleasing day today, going on to post the ninth fastest time.

The two-time champion admitted, however, that he had been hindered by the cars going slowly during his final run.

"We achieved our first objective today, which was to get into Q3," said Alonso. "We can now concentrate on our second objective which is to improve our pace in the race and to finish in the points.

"I could have done better in Q3 this afternoon as I was with Heidfeld on a fast lap while the others were going slowly, and that affected me a bit, which is a shame.

"I am sure that the race tomorrow will be interesting and I hope we can find our way into the points, just like in Melbourne. We must now concentrate on our preparation for the race tomorrow."

Teammate Nelsinho Piquet, who endured a tough Australian Grand Prix, fared better in today's qualifying, the Brazilian finishing in 13th place.

"I am relatively satisfied with my qualifying this afternoon," he said. "I made good progress in the last free practice session this morning and my qualifying went without too many problems.

"Of course I must still improve, but I am not too far away from my teammate and I cannot wait to see how the race goes tomorrow.

"My objective will be to do better than Melbourne and to reach the end of my second Grand Prix, and if possible to score some points."