Kubica says seventh was possible

But the Pole, who posted the ninth fastest time, said Renault could be pleased with its start to the season after showing good potential with its car by going into Q3.

"The first target for today was to get into Q3, so we can pleased with that part of the qualifying session, but I am actually a bit disappointed to be only ninth on the grid," Kubica said.

"I did two good laps in Q1 and Q2, but on my lap in the final part of the session I had a big snap oversteer in the hairpin at turn 16 that cost me about four tenths.

"On the positive side, we have a clearer picture of where we stand now, and it looks pretty positive when you see the cars around us on the grid: the R30 clearly has good potential. It will be a long, tough race tomorrow but our target has to be to move up the field."

Russian Vitaly Petrov qualified the second Renault in 17th position, and the rookie said not much more could be expected considering it was his first ever qualifying in F1.

"For my first ever qualifying session, this is a normal result, but I really enjoyed today," he said. "Our first target was to make Q2 so we achieved this, but we were not very lucky in Q2 and could not continue.

"Tomorrow is race day and it will be very interesting to see how we do - we will certainly try our best."