De la Rosa predicts Michelin fightback

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and teammate Felipe Massa secured a one-two in qualifying, while the Bridgestone-shod Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher will start from fourth and fifth.

De la Rosa, returning to Grand Prix racing in place of Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya at the McLaren team, qualified in eighth position, the Spaniard claiming he was surprised by his performance considering he was using harder Michelin tyres.

"We have a very consistent tyre," de la Rosa told Spanish television. "Yesterday we had some problems with the softer tyres, so we chose a harder tyre thinking of the race. That's why we are surprised to qualify so well and we are happy.

"We are going to analyse what Bridgestone has done, but I have the feeling that we have a more consistent tyre," added the Spaniard.

It was the first time de la Rosa competed under the new qualifying format, the McLaren driving not having raced since last year's Bahrain Grand Prix.

"When I went out there there were three or four cars in front of me that slowed me down, but in any case I'm happy because this is my first time running with this qualifying session and we have been more competitive than I was expecting," he added.

Teammate Kimi Raikkonen will start the race from sixth.