Rosberg happy to be back on right path

The German driver, quickest in final practice this morning, continued to show promising pace in Bahrain after his team's poor weekend in Sepang, qualifying in eighth position.

Rosberg was pleased with his team's performance, and he reckons Williams will be stronger in tomorrow's race.

"I am happy because we are back where we expected to be at the moment, which is behind the top three teams, so eighth position is more or less the best we can do," said Rosberg.

"It would have been nice to be ahead of Jarno Trulli, but he was a little bit quicker than me overall.

"We have a good race car, possibly stronger than our qualifying car, so I think we are in a good position for the race and strategy is also on target. It's definitely all going in the right direction."

Kazuki Nakajima did not enjoy such a positive day after being able to get the best out of his tyres.

The Japanese driver failed to make the cut into Q2, having to settle for 16th place.

"It was not a great qualifying session for me today," he said. "I made it into Q2 which was okay, but I wasn't able to get the most out of the car or the tyres, which cost me quite a lot.

"Here at least it is a circuit where overtaking is possible, which will be important tomorrow considering from where I am starting the race."