Sauber upbeat over tactics

Fisichella's fifth fastest time in pre-qualifying proved the C23 has some pace and Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn hinted earlier this week that a midfield team could pull off a shock result if it employed a two stop strategy. Most of the fast teams are expected to stop three times, possibly short-fuelling the first stint, which means those cars will filter out among the midfield runners and with overtaking nigh on impossible, this could cause them problems.

"I'm pretty happy with the way things went this afternoon," said Fisichella. "It was a very good lap, apart from the first corner, Ste Devote, where I braked a little bit too late and locked the front wheels.

"Considering the level of fuel we have I am very satisfied. It is a great feeling to be right on our target here, especially as I love the Monaco circuit. Our tyre degradation was better today than on Thursday and it will be better still in the race, so I am optimistic I will be able to score some more points."

Team principal Peter Sauber backed up the Italian's confidence: "Congratulations to Giancarlo. He was able to reach our target starting position. The 10th slot on the grid allows us to hope for a good race with a positive outcome. Unfortunately, Felipe [Massa] was not as happy with his performance and was not able to achieve the place that he and the team had hoped for. He will have a chance to correct that tomorrow in what is always a very tough race here."

Felipe Massa will start 16th after a very untidy qualifying lap and even a radical two-stop strategy is going to be difficult to maximise from so far back.

"To be honest," said the Brazilian, "I wasn't very happy with my lap. The car did not feel as good as it did this morning. The balance was not stable and the handling was more nervous on turn-in."