Rosberg delighted with sixth on grid

The 22-year-old German, who was brought up in Monte Carlo, was second fastest in the low-fuel Q2 phase of qualifying, before eventually slipping behind the Ferrari's, McLarens and Robert Kubica's BMW in the top ten shoot-out.

Nevertheless Rosberg was overjoyed to be so far up the grid for a race which could prove chaotic if it rains on Sunday.

"I am very happy, I got the most out of the car and this is a good result," he said. "I really enjoyed it out there today. It was good fun and I was really pushing it to the limit - I imagine it would be pretty exciting to watch my on-board camera footage because I was really attacking every bit of the lap.

"Qualifying in Monaco is different to anywhere else and being able to get to the limit here is just great. If it rains tomorrow it will be madness, so I'll just have to be very careful and keep it on the track. With a good strategy, I can have a good Monaco Grand Prix."

Inexperienced team-mate Kazuki Nakajima admitted that the had suffered in comparison to Rosberg on his Monaco debut: "It was a difficult qualifying for me because I was having trouble hooking everything up on my quick laps.

"I made some mistakes on one of my clean laps, so I need to go away and think about that and see how I can improve," Nakajima added. "Nico did really well today. He set a really good lap time, so I think I should have been better.

"Conditions were slightly different out there this afternoon in comparison to this morning's practice session, and the forecast isn't settled for the race, which could make it interesting."