Stewart duo celebrating

The 35-year-old finished just one place behind team-mate Rubens Barrichello as Jackie Stewart's ambitious outfit saw both drivers qualify in the top six for the first time in the team's history.

'It has taken me and the team a bit longer than expected, but now we are in the top six it's a big relief,' said Herbert, who scored just two points in a problem-plagued first-half of the season.

'Considering I was fourth quickest this morning I'm a little frustrated not to be one or two places higher up.

'The testing we did at Monza was very beneficial. My main problem this year has been to put in a quick lap on low fuel.

'But the car felt great and I was able to be a bit more aggressive than usual. This was also my first trouble free start to a weekend so I felt more relaxed for qualifying.'

Barrichello will be looking to add to his two podium finishes already this season after just being beaten to fourth place on the grid by Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

'There are chances to overtake under braking so I expect to be challenging for the podium if I can get a good start and our race strategy works out,' said Barrichello.

'I had a problem with oversteer in practice and I felt like a passenger at times. But we impoved the car's handling as the session went on and I think fourth was probably the best I could have done.'