Williams pair lament changing conditions

Home hero Rosberg, who had made it into Q3 at every previous race this year, was never on the right tyre for the conditions during the wet/dry session, and suffered as a result, qualifying in 15th - his worst starting spot since last year's Brazilian Grand Prix.

"As long as it was dry, all went well," said Rosberg, who was seventh quickest in first practice. "Q1 was comfortable and we were making good progress.

"If it had stayed dry, I think we would have been right up there. However, with the changing conditions in Q2, we just didn't get the best out of it. We will have to analyse why."

Team-mate Nakajima was three tenths of a second quicker and two places further up the grid.

The Japanese driver thinks that the upside-down grid order may give him a chance to spring a surprise in the race.

"To get it right in qualifying, you needed to have perfect timing and make the right decision with the tyres. We just missed that a bit," Nakajima said.

"The overall order in the top 10 is a bit different though, so maybe this provides us with some possibilities for the race. We just have to use our strategy to its best advantage."