Fisichella: Renault Much Closer to McLaren

With teammate Fernando Alonso taking pole position and Fisichella securing third, the Italian believes the new aerodynamic package and engine spec introduced this weekend have moved the team closer to rivals McLaren.

"This is great," he said of his qualifying position. "We didn't expect third, because the target was to be on the first three rows.

"It is very encouraging for tomorrow. We have the new aero package, the new step engine and we are much closer to McLaren. We are confident to do a good result tomorrow."

Although the main focus tomorrow is on whether Alonso can win the Drivers' Championship, Fisichella knows that Renault will be requiring him to score as many points as possible for their constructors' title fight.

"I need to score lots of points, get to the end with Fernando and score as many points as we can," he said. "And for that (the Constructors' Championship) I need to keep Kimi behind me."