Heidfeld positive for the race

"I am happy to be on the second row of the grid and I have a good feeling for the race," said the BMW-Sauber driver, who beat Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to escape the usual place outside the top four.

"On my final lap I made a small mistake in the last corner, perhaps it cost two tenths of a second, but the gap to third is six tenths so in the end my mistake didn't really make a difference.

"Normally I make good starts and hope it will be the case here as well, although I have to start on the dirty side of the track and, of course, the first corner has to be all right.

"It is a pretty long way to the first bend here, and you have cold brakes and very little wing, which we are not really used to. We all have to watch out."

Teammate Robert Kubica will start from sixth position and the Pole too is confident of a strong race.

"It was sort of business as usual, and we get used to this good position," he said. "We had the possibility, because of Kimi Raikkonen's problems this morning, to stay in front of a Ferrari, and Nick managed to do it so it is good for the team.

"Happily I am in good shape for the race."