Williams could have had front row 'easily'

The discovery of metallic particles in the oil of Webber's engine during a routine check after Saturday free practice led to Cosworth deciding to change his and Rosberg's engine because they were worried the units would not last the race.

That decision forced Williams to adopt a more conservative tyre choice for the race, which was less suitable for qualifying, as well as put Webber on a heavy fuel strategy in the final session of qualifying.

Speaking about the choice of tyres, and reflecting on Nick Heidfeld's pole position last year, technical director Sam Michael said: "It was straightforward once we knew we had to take the penalties.

"If we hadn't had to take that we could have gone for a completely different choice of tyres and strategy, which I think would have been a better way to go. Similar to what we did with Nick Heidfeld last year.

"There is no doubt that if we'd gone with the other route on strategy we would have been on the front row easily. But that's not the way it worked this year."

Michael admitted that the team sacrificed some pace in the first two sessions of qualifying by using only one set of tyres, in a bid to save rubber for the race.

"We were obviously quite strong in the practice sessions and we were quite happy with the car. We had to make a few different choices on strategy, knowing what was going to happen with the penalty. So that obviously affects what you do in the final session.

"But up until then Q1 and Q2 didn't go too badly. We went through with just one set, and most teams were doing two runs, so we could definitely have gone faster if we had done the same thing as them. But we knew the race was more important for us, to have fresh tyres for Sunday.

"Performance-wise we are OK, and hopefully that will come out in the race. Mark is on a completely different strategy from the rest of the top 10, as you can see from the lap times.

"The pace he was on before they all went to new tyres is really strong. The biggest problem he will have will be traffic, but people have scored points from where he is starting before."