Rosberg hopeful of points finish

Rosberg has scored points in the last seven races, but his Williams team has struggled for pace this weekend.

Nonetheless, the German driver put on a solid performance in qualifying and will start the race from 10th position, from where he reckons a top eight finish is still possible.

"We have really struggled all weekend but we managed to get the best out of Q2 and finishing 10th was possibly the best we could achieve carrying quite a lot of fuel," said Rosberg.

"We have a good strategy and therefore I think we can fight for some points tomorrow.

"It was a very strange qualifying session here today, I think maybe the way the teams are using their tyres is making quite a difference."

Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima admitted he was unable to find the kind of pace shown by Rosberg after going out in Q1.

The Japanese will start from 18th place.

"We struggled here yesterday in practice, but Nico managed to either drive very well or find a set-up direction that I didn't," Nakajima said.

"I hope I can learn something from the progress he made today and have a better time tomorrow in the race to make up for today's disappointment."