Mat Coch writes:

A scrappy lap and a KERS issue meant Red Bull struggled through the opening qualifying session of the season.

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel finds himself just sixth on the grid after a mistake on his flying lap. "I did a mistake in the first sector and lost quite a bit," he revealed, admitting to have struggled to feel comfortable with his car.

"The balance is not quite there, and maybe I'm not yet able to have the confidence to then really find the extra tenth, looking for one quick lap in qualifying," he said.

"We definitely improved the car but as I said, usually when you talk about balance then it's making the whole car work - the front and the rear coming together," he added. "I don't think we have a global problem with the car."

"The base is absolutely there. The car is from good stock, we know that from other cars that Adrian's done similar to this, and as is always the way in Formula One when you're a little bit off, and then a little bit more, you're extremely exposed," agreed teammate Mark Webber.

"We had a pretty smooth winter but we would have liked it to have gone a bit better in terms of track time and in terms of having a slightly better understanding of the car."

Webber fared only slightly better than his teammate, a KERS problem saw the Australian set his best time without the system being switched on. The issue forced him to complete an additional run in the second phase of qualifying just to understand the car. "We had some understanding to do without the KERS obviously on braking," Webber explained. "So we went again and that lap wasn't ideal because I made a mistake and then I had one run to do (in the final phase of qualifying)."

That lap was as good as it could have been, Webber believes. "I don't think I could have done a huge amount more," he confessed, though was still unsatisfied to have qualified just fifth. "It's disappointing for all of us in the team that we're where we are. It was good in the past to be there but the last few years we've had the bar's been lifted so we need to press on and focus on how we can improve."

It's an opinion shared by Vettel. "You can be certain that we are not happy with the result," he said. "We were struggling a little bit here and there and I think it's not a disaster starting sixth tomorrow, there's a long race, there's a lot of things that can happen here."

A rain interrupted opening day limited running, though the forecast for the race is dry, seemingly eliminating one variable. The safety car however is a constant threat, offering a glimmer of hope to the pair.

"I think this race has always had potential to be a bit of a lottery, so there's a lot of things that can happen," said Vettel. "The target is obviously, starting from the positions we do, to look to the front and try to get a couple of those guys... It's a long race with a lot of opportunities and the key will be to be there when those opportunities arise."