Toro Rosso 'deserved' back row slots

Twelve months ago Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais qualified first and fourth in the rain in Italy, with Vettel going on to take a remarkable victory in the race. But this year Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari were only 19th and 20th.

"Today, we ended up where we deserved to be," said technical director Giorgio Ascanelli.

Buemi said he had lost time behind Lewis Hamilton as the McLaren exited the pits in Q1, but did not think it had made any difference to the result. He also refuted suggestions that he had impeded Toyota's Timo Glock.

"I did the best I could, but the session did not go well for me," said Buemi. "I was held up by Hamilton, who did not know I was there. Another lap for me might have made a bit of a difference, but not much.

"As for Glock saying I held him up, I don't think I did, as I was just trying to rebuild a gap after being slowed by Hamilton."

Alguersuari was given a five place penalty for a gearbox change prior to the session, although his lack of pace made the punishment irrelevant. However he felt the practice time lost to the problem had been costly.

"I was not expecting much from this session, after problems in the morning with my gearbox meant I only did ten laps in free practice," said the Spanish rookie.

"Because of that, I did not have the time to try much in terms of setting up the car. Therefore, we carried over some unknown factors into qualifying and I have to say, I am still getting used to driving the car in this low downforce configuration.

"I hope I can still have a good race tomorrow and to be honest, I hope it rains."