Kovalainen: It All Went to Plan

"Pole is very important for this race, and it went exactly to plan," Kovalainen admitted back in the paddock after the session was complete.

"The plan was to take it easy at first in practice and at the start of qualifying to find the way, and on the second set of tyres to push, and I was lucky it was exactly the right time to go out."

With qualifying out of the way Kovalainen's thoughts turned to tomorrow's race, particularly the start: "Hopefully we won't have any problems at the start like in Barcelona I hope we can get the lead and can control the races from there."

Tactics are likely to be vital in the race, as the pitstops will potentially change the complexion of the race given the lack of overtaking opportunities.

"Everyone has problems with traffic here, but hopefully that won't be a problem for us now.

"I think the pitstop will be very important, but we should be able to be fast before that and then work out when is the best time to come in to avoid the traffic."