Liuzzi blames traffic for missing cut

"That was a shame to miss out by being just a few thousandths slower than Barrichello," said the Toro Rosso driver, who had to be content with 17th position, just 0.006 seconds behind Honda driver Rubens Barrichello.

"On my final run I might have been able to go a little bit better but I went out in traffic and was not able to get my front tyres up to temperature and that made me lose out a bit in the first three corners.

"I lost a couple of tenths and that meant I had no chance of making it to Q2. Apart from that, my lap was actually almost perfect, so I have nothing to complain about really.

"Unfortunately, we still lack a bit of development and, for example, we have a new front wing on the way. The balance of the car was good, so I am still looking forward to the race."

Teammate Sebastien Vettel was disappointed with his performance after finishing down in 20th position.

The young German believes he had the potential to do much better.

"Of course I am disappointed because we should have and could have been quicker," he said. "My first problem was caused by the fact that I was pulled into the weighbridge which meant we had to change our programme for the session.

"After that, I went out quite late for just one last run and I was the last car on track. This meant I had a very slow out lap, so by then, I had low tyre temperature and pressure which cost me a lot of time. It's not as good as we expected, but life goes on and we will have to see what will be possible in the race tomorrow."