Nakajima hopeful for qualifying

The Japanese rookie, competing in only his fifth Grand Prix, outpaced teammate Nico Rosberg and set a time just 0.237 seconds off Kimi Raikkonen's best.

"It was a good day for us today," said Nakajima, whose experience of the Circuit de Catalunya is higher than at most tracks. "We tried some different set-ups options in both sessions and have found a good direction to take us into qualifying.

"We will be doing some more work this evening, but we are well prepared for tomorrow."

Rosberg may have matched, or even bettered, his teammate's lap but lost time after the team experimented with something new on his car in the morning session which didn't work out.

"We had to change back for the afternoon session," said Rosberg. "The car felt a lot better straight away, but we still have a few balance issues that we need to try to sort out as it doesn't feel so great on the track.

"Circuit conditions have changed a lot since we tested here last week, so we have to have another look at the set-up before tomorrow."