Alonso says he did his maximum

"I think that we did our maximum this afternoon," said the Renault driver, who reckons his team has closed the gap to the leading squads.

"We were quick and have closed the gap with the leaders, although it was a bit close in Q2 where we were 10th.

"For the race tomorrow we know that the seven cars in front are quicker and the ones behind us are quite heavy on fuel and could jump ahead of us during the pit tops, so it might be difficult to keep our position.

"Nonetheless we need to score points and that will be our aim in tomorrow's race," added the Spaniard.

Team-mate Nelson Piquet had a reasonable day after having struggled in qualifying in the previous races.

The Brazilian will start from 11th position.

"It was another really close session and all the cars were very competitive, especially in Q1," he said. "I was happy with the car as we had improved the balance this morning, but I just missed out on the top ten which is a bit disappointing.

"Still, starting 12th is not too bad and we have been free to choose our fuel load and have a strategy that we hope will help us move forward during the race."