Vettel pins hopes on rain on Sunday

The Red Bull driver qualified in third position, but will drop the 13th on the grid after his 10-place penalty for his incident with Robert Kubica at the Australian Grand Prix.

Vettel reckons he has a strong car, but is aware that he will need special circumstances to come into play tomorrow if he's going to be fighting near the front.

"There is nothing I can do so the secret is to focus on what we are here to do," said Vettel. "We are here to race, of course, and it is a shame to see the car performing at a good level.

"Through Q1, Q2 and Q3 we were more or less in the top five. It's a shame to have plus 10 tomorrow so it will be difficult.

"I hope for some rain because it can mix it up tomorrow."

Team-mate Mark Webber, seventh fastest, will start from a strong fifth position after what he labelled as an enjoyable session.

"Qualifying's tight," said Webber. "That was quite an enjoyable session. It would be nice to have a bit more of a cushion between us and the other cars, but that's not what it's about at the moment and seventh is the best I could do.

"With the strategy we're on, we'll see how we go tomorrow."