Webber bullish on qualifying chances

The Australian topped the times in the morning session and then finished fourth fastest in the afternoon and was left encouraged for tomorrow's qualifying.

"We couldn't have got much more out of today," said Webber. "The guys did a good job getting the optimum time on track that we could with the tricky conditions. We were dodging showers here and there, but we timed everything as well as we could.

"It's one of the more encouraging Friday's that we've had for a long time, so it was good. I hope it carries on tomorrow.

"We've seen that things can change day to day with this championship, so I'm looking forward to qualifying - it should be good for us."

Team-mate Sebastian Vettel, looking to win Sunday's race to keep his title hopes alive, wound up seventh.

"All in all, a good Friday," Vettel said. "We had another practice day without any engine trouble, even though we did a lot of laps - so thanks to Renault for that. Other than that, we were fast throughout the whole of practice today.

"We'll look into the data now and I'm sure we can improve further - we should have enough time before tomorrow to make another step forward.

"Weather-wise, I think today was the day they predicted rain and it didn't rain much, so maybe that means rain for Sunday?... We will see."