Rosberg susprised by poor showing

Rosberg qualified down in 15th position despite a promising showing in Friday's practice, the German struggling for grip during the session.

The Williams driver admitted he was expecting to do a lot better.

"I didn't really expect us to struggle so much in qualifying today," said Rosberg. "While we knew that Spa was not going to be our best track, being this far back is unexpected and very disappointing.

"In one respect, my car was okay from a balance perspective, but there was a serious lack of grip which meant I couldn't go any faster.

"Obviously looking ahead to the race tomorrow, some rain would give me a small chance to achieve something, otherwise it's going to be very difficult."

Williams's lacklustre day was completed by Kazuki Nakajima qualifying down on the final row of the grid in 19th place.

Nakajima said: "I felt our car was better in practice this morning despite the fact that the dry conditions for qualifying made the circuit better this afternoon, but when we got into the qualifying session, I just couldn't find any grip and I am still not able to understand why.

"It's going to be a long race tomorrow and starting 19th will make things more difficult."