Rosberg surprised by qualifying pace

The German put on another strong qualifying performance and will start tomorrow's race from fifth position.

"I think I can be quite pleased," said Rosberg. "I didn't expect to be that far up today so I'm really happy that it all came together so well.

"I worked hard with the engineers to get a good set-up this weekend. We found a direction that seemed to suit the car and it just got better and better which meant I could really push.

"Our car also seems to work well on this kind of high downforce track which allows us to close the gap to the others. It will be tricky with the tyres in the race, but I'm looking forward to it and hopefully it will go my way this time."

Teammate Alex Wurz did not enjoy such a positive day, the Austrian finishing down in 13th position after suffering from balance problems. 

"It was a very difficult qualifying session," Wurz said. "I had a balance problem on the car and my radio didn't work so it was difficult to communicate what I needed to the team.

"We worked hard in the practice sessions and we should have made it into Q1. I was competitive and just lost the time at the chicane. Anyway, I'm looking forward to a strong race tomorrow."