Rosberg confident after Friday practice

Nico Rosberg is confident of a strong European Grand Prix weekend for Williams after he and his teammate Kazuki Nakajima ended the first day's practice at the new Valencia street track 12th and 14th fastest respectively

The German hinted that the positions were not indicative of the FW30's potential as the circuit's conditions improved considerably during the last 15 minutes of the second session, while he had set his new tyre laps early on.

"We went out on new tyres fairly early on, and the track ramped up a lot towards the end of the session so it's difficult to really tell, but I think the track is suiting our car," he said. "We will have to wait and see what happens tomorrow and in the race.

"In terms of setup, we made a considerable improvement today which is good."

Despite his confidence, Rosberg was one of many drivers to suffer a spin at the last corner, just missing Mark Webber's Red Bull as it came to rest in the run-off area.

"We lost a set of tyres with Nico following his spin and we're obviously lucky to get away without any car damage," said Williams co-owner Patrick Head.

Nakajima was also happy with his day's work, and remarked on how technical the new street circuit was to drive on.

"Conditions were changing all the time and the track became easier to drive as the sessions progressed," said the Japanese driver. "It's not the easiest of circuits, so I'm pleased I did lots of preparation work on the simulator before I arrived. I'm feeling positive ahead of tomorrow's qualifying."