Vettel thrilled with top ten effort

The Scuderia Toro Rosso driver will start the race from ninth position after he continued with his promising weekend in today's grid-deciding session.

"I had a very good qualifying and the whole weekend so far has been good too, although it's been difficult to find the right balance mainly because of the tricky wind conditions," said Vettel.

"Q2 was quite tight and I was pleased to make it through to Q3 with my final lap.

"The fact I know this track so well is helping me a bit, because the characteristics of this circuit are not the most suited to our package.

"It was nice to see the fans cheering on my out lap and it was only later I realised I was the only German through to Q3. We have a great grid position so now we must see what we can do tomorrow."

Teammate Sebastien Bourdais was also satisfied with his performance after setting the 15th fastest time.

The Frenchman admitted he had been hindered by his problems in yesterday's practice.

"On my last run, I tried to push harder, knowing I was chasing four tenths of a second to get into Q3 and I wanted to get the most out of the car," he said. "Unfortunately, I locked up the right front for no apparent reason.

"But given where we were yesterday, when I was in the garage for much of the day, only managing twelve laps and not being able to evaluate a qualifying set-up, it's not too bad.

"Generally, there is quite a bit of overtaking at this race and it can get pretty hot on the opening laps so I hope I can make the most of any opportunities that come my way."