Wurz hindered by gearbox problems

The Austrian Williams driver will start from a disappointing 20th position in tomorrow's race after his car got stuck in gear during his final run.

"Unfortunately in Q1 the car developed a problem before my final runs, so I was not able to set a time to get through to the following sessions," said Wurz. "I couldn't select gears, but we are not sure yet why that is.

"It's a shame because this area of the car has been working faultlessly all the way through winter testing, on the dynos and into last week's test, but that's how it goes. Tomorrow I'll just have to see what happens and just make the best of it."

Wurz' disappointment was in contrast with teammate's Nico Rosberg's delight after a strong showing, the German qualifying in sixth position.

"I don't think we couldn't have hoped for much better than P6 today," said Rosberg. "I am pretty pleased, especially because yesterday we seemed unable to find the form we had showed here at the test.

"However, since this morning, my car has been feeling better and everything started to go in the right direction.

"As the grip level rises, the car gets stronger, just like in Melbourne. Starting from sixth is a good position for tomorrow, even if the gap to those around me is tight. The most important ambition for us tomorrow is trying to maintain our consistency and continue gathering points."