Trulli was expecting better result

"That was a tough session," admitted Trulli, who despite his problems qualified in eighth for his Toyota team.

It was the fifth consecutive times the Italian qualified in the top ten.

"The wind was affecting the car balance a lot and this played a major role. Unfortunately in this type of conditions we have never been very strong here. We managed to make it into the top ten but I am not really satisfied with how the session went overall.

"I was happy with my lap in Q3 to make the fourth row but it could be a very difficult race tomorrow. The teams are tightly grouped but the season is long and hard so we have to do our best to score points at every race," added Trulli, who has finished in the points in the last two races.

Teammate Timo Glock was left disappointed after failing to make it into Q3, having to settle for 14th position after being unable to improve his laptime on his final run, much to his surprise.

"Clearly our goal was to be in the top ten but it didn't work out," he said. "Q1 wasn't too bad but Q2 didn't go according to plan. On the second run we didn't make any mistakes but for some reason I couldn't improve my time - and it looked like the same thing happened to Jarno on that lap.

"I have no explanation because the feeling was good on the out lap. But when I came through turns one, two and three I felt the car sliding more and the time didn't come. From 14th it is difficult but in Bahrain I came from 13th to 9th so it is possible to move up."