Williams still aiming to score points

Engine suppliers Cosworth found some irregularities in Webber's engine after Saturday morning free practice and felt that since they could not guarantee its reliability for the race he and teammate Rosberg would need new power-units.

It means that Webber will start from 20th on the grid, with Rosberg right at the back - but the team still believe they can salvage something in the race.

Technical director Sam Michael said: "After morning practice we undertook engine changes on both cars which obviously changed our strategy for qualifying.

"Although this is a clear set-back in terms of start position and we will be starting the race from an unfamiliar position at the back of the grid, we are still determined to do everything we can to get the cars into the points.

"Our long runs in all the practice sessions have been competitive and that will help us in the race tomorrow."

Webber, who managed to get through to Q3, admitted there was little he could have done to improve on his 10th fastest slot.

"Because of the grid penalty due to the engine change today, we obviously had to choose the right strategy for the race and I think our engineers have done the best job given the situation that we are in," he explained.

"We'll try hard in the race, but we couldn't really expect a huge deal more from qualifying. I tried to maybe go a bit too hard on my last lap and made a little mistake on turn three, losing a bit of time there, but I had nothing to lose, as I am going back anyway.

"I just scraped into the last ten while everyone else was obviously running on low fuel."

Rosberg added:  "Again I missed those two little extra tenths that I needed to find in order to make it into Q3. With the grip increasing and only having one lap to fully exploit it, plenty of experience is very useful. Still, at least now I have the advantage of being able choose my fuel load for the race.

"I will be starting towards the back from where I will push. We have worked towards having a good race plan, so I think we can still do well."