Rosberg positive after promising practice

The Williams driver posted the eighth fastest time of the day in the afternoon practice session.

And although Rosberg admitted there is still work to do, he reckons things are looking good.

"We did a lot of set-up work today as the lower downforce level here takes some getting used to, but we have found a good direction with a definite improvement over the day," said Rosberg. "We also managed some good tyre tests too where we definitely learned something, so it's been a good start to the weekend.

"We're looking relatively competitive but we still need to do our homework tonight and we also have some interesting things to test tomorrow morning for qualifying. Overall I am confident."

Teammate Kazuki Nakajima was also pleased with his day's work after finishing as 11th quickest.

"I think today was a good day for us," he said. "I drove here last year, a clear advantage as I spent less time learning the track and more time getting straight into set-up work.

"The morning was more difficult with the damp weather conditions, but then in the afternoon we had a good session which allowed us to try a few more things on set-up and complete a more meaningful tyre comparison."