Fisichella still hopeful of podium finish

The Renault driver will start from sixth position after the French squad continued with their problems to extract the maximum from their tyres over a single lap.

Fisichella is adamant, however, that Renault's race pace will be stronger, and he is hoping to be able to reach the podium on Sunday.

"As always, it was a tough qualifying session, but I feel we didn't achieve the maximum this afternoon," said Fisichella.

"My position is pretty much as expected, behind McLaren and Ferrari, but I think I could have gained a place or two without traffic on my final timed lap, which slowed me down in the last three corners in particular.

"We had expected qualifying to be tough because we know the car's speed on a single lap is not as competitive as the long runs at the moment. Now, we need to wait and see what the race pace is like.

"We were competitive this morning and yesterday afternoon, so hopefully I can make up some ground at the start - and then fight for the podium."

Fisichella's teammate Heikki Kovalainen endured a disappointing maiden qualifying session in Formula One, the Finn winding up 13th after struggling for pace over a single lap.

Despite that, Kovalainen says he will do his best to score points tomorrow.

"The car was fine and the balance was good, but I just wasn't able to get the maximum from it on a single lap," said the Finn. "I lost track time yesterday and this morning, and my times were a little bit off in every sector.

"Obviously, this performance is not good enough, but there is no point dwelling on it now. Starting from P13 is not ideal for my first Grand Prix, and I will need to race aggressively to get a points finish. That will be my target for tomorrow."