Rosberg thrilled with second row slot

"It has been a really good day," said the Williams driver, second in the night race last season.

"The start of the weekend was a bit difficult and all our engineers together worked very well.

"We made some big changes to the set-up and it improved the car a lot. It helped us be quicker.

"We weren't sure we would get into Q3 because of getting the soft tyre to work. In Q2 I got a fantastic lap and Q3 was fantastic too."

The German, whose team struggled for competitive pace at Spa and Monza, was delighted to be back on form.

"It is the way it is," he added. "For Spa and Monza we take completely different race cars. It is a completely different car and now we get back the car we had prior to those races and we were finishing fourth and fifth.

"We have put a chunk of time into the package and we have developed very rapidly. Ii is enjoyable at the moment. I am pleased we have made another step for podium finishes and, who knows, maybe we can fight for a win soon."