Kobayashi frustrated to miss top ten

The Toyota driver, making his grand prix debut this weekend as he stands in for Timo Glock, qualified in a promising 11th position despite the difficult track conditions.

Kobayashi, however, reckons a mistake in his final run cost him the chance to move into the top-ten shootout.

"That was a very difficult session for my first qualifying experience in Formula 1," Kobayashi said. "The conditions were really hard because from lap to lap the situation changed and there was a lot of aquaplaning. I have never driven this track in those conditions before so it was certainly not easy but the car felt good.

"I made a small mistake on my last lap in second qualifying so I missed out on the top 10 which I am a bit frustrated about. But overall, to qualify in 11th for my grand prix debut in conditions like that is a good result which is more than I expected so I am happy with it.

"We'll see how it goes in the race tomorrow; it would be great to score points and I will be doing my best to achieve that."

Jarno Trulli also had an encouraging day after finishing in fourth position.

The Italian, second in the previous race in Japan, said he is aiming to continue with his podium streak.

"It was a very intense qualifying session," said Trulli. "In first qualifying the only target was to keep the car on the track and try to do a reasonable lap time because the conditions were horrible, with a lot of aquaplaning. It was extremely hard and the important thing was to stay focused; we managed to get through which was the important thing.

"In second and third qualifying it was much better and the car was running well so I was able to push harder.

"I enjoyed it because we were putting in some quick laptimes on the right tyres and it's good to be on the second row. It would be nice to repeat the Japanese Grand Prix podium and I will be fighting hard."