Rosberg expecting to score points

The German driver put on another strong qualifying performance to set the seventh fastest time, missing out on sixth position by just 0.006 seconds.

"We can be pleased with seventh today and it is a good place to start the race from, even though it was a pity to miss sixth position by only six thousands of a second," said Rosberg.

"In this morning's practice, I didn't find the balance easy but we had good pace in qualifying.

"In the race, it will be tough to compete with the front-runners, but we will fight with everyone and certainly expect to score some points."

The day was not so positive for teammate Alex Wurz, who failed to go into the second qualifying segment.

The Austrian admitted he was annoyed with himself after posting the 20th fastest time.

"Well, there is not much to say, it was just slow, that's it, and we will have to see where I lost the time - of course I'm annoyed with myself and pretty angry," he said.

"Tomorrow I will be paying the price and the race will be hard, but I am a fighter and I won't give up."