Vettel surprised to be so high up the grid

The Italian Grand Prix winner will start from seventh position, as he continued with his and Toro Rosso's strong run of results.

"It was a very good qualifying for us," said Vettel. "In Q2, we were in a comfortable position and only needed to do one run and then in Q3 I think we achieved the maximum we could do today.

"After experiencing some difficulties yesterday, I did not expect P7, but we did a very good job overnight and we seem to have found the right way forward.

"I am sure it will be a long and difficult race tomorrow and very hot. We are starting from a points position so we will be trying to bring some home."

Sebastien Bourdais, on the other hand, had little to celebrate after struggling with the handling of his car under braking.

The Frenchman qualified down in 17th position, his worst result since Hungary.

"I don't know what happened in this session," he said. "Every time I braked, the car went sideways. It was pulling to the left and alternately locking one of the rear wheels. The car behaved completely differently to FP3 but we have not changed anything.

"My first run was messy and my second run was just weird and there was no way I felt I could attack as I had no stability or grip, with the car running asymmetrically. I also came up behind Sutil in the chicane. Just a bad qualifying.