Badoer targets Q2 despite slow start

The Ferrari driver made steady progress in his second race for the Italian team, but he was still the slowest driver in the field - and was almost two seconds adrift of his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Despite the performance, Badoer was encouraged by the steps he made, and was hopeful of not being knocked out in the first phase of qualifying.

"My objective is to pass Q1 in qualifying, and after this we will see for the race," he explained.

Badoer felt that his performance had been slightly hindered by the fact he lost dry running time by the rain showers that hit first practice.

"This morning we had a rain session and it was very good for me, for getting back a good feeling in the rain," he said. "I was quick enough. But it meant I lost one and a half hours of the three hours of practice, so my maximum with one and a half hours was this result.

"Obviously it was every run improving and I am still on the way to improve, I need to drive more, tomorrow there is another hour for free practice, I can change the set-up on my car and see where I am losing compared to Kimi, so I think we can find out tomorrow morning some more stuff."