BMW drivers left hoping for more

Kubica will start the race from fifth position, his worst result of the season so far, while Heidfeld had to settle for a disappointing ninth.

The Pole admitted however that he was pleased with his effort, although he said he was hoping for more after being second quickest in Q2.

"I am quite happy with my qualifying result and hope for a good race," he said. "We were expecting a little bit more after finishing P2 in the second qualifying session, but after refuelling the balance of the car was not good in a few corners and it became difficult to drive.

"With the high fuel load we picked up a lot of understeer. We shall now analyse the data and try to understand why."

Heidfeld was not as happy, although the German driver said things had been better than in practice.

"Of course I'm not happy with P9, but I can also see something positive in today's qualifying - it went much better than practice did," he said.

"The sun came out and this helped me to heat up the tyres. My very last lap was actually really good until the final sector when I made a mistake which cost me about three tenths of a second. I think I can move up the field in the race."