Vettel pleased despite no pole position

The Red Bull Racing driver was beaten by Brawn rival Jenson Button, who put on superb last-gasp effort to emerge on top just when it looked pole belonged to Vettel.

The German said second place was great nonetheless.

"We have a very strong car and also this weekend it seems to work pretty well, so I am pleased with that," said Vettel. "In the first run in Q2 I felt pretty comfortable. I thought that lap time was good but not good enough to beat Jenson.

"I wished to have the pole, but at the last minute he took it away. Second position is great.

"We had a good recovery from yesterday where we were struggling. We fixed it and from this morning we did another adjustment of car which seemed to work.

"We only needed one run in Q1 on the hard tyre and one run in Q2 with soft tyre. So a great job and compliments to the whole crew because some of the parts arrived at the last minute."

Vettel admitted he was surprised to be Button emerge on top, after the Briton had been slower in the first two sectors of his lap.

"I was very, very happy with the car in Q2," he said. "It was a great effort from Jenson, he is doing a great job and deserves to be there, it came as a surprise.

"I had a good lap. It may have been a bit early on the track and that is the only missed opportunity. The lap was good, well within the limits. We have a good car for the race.

"I am still fighting, Jenson is really doing well this minute and I just have to try harder to try and get him."