Fernando Alonso believes Ferrari showed their mental toughness on Saturday as they fought back from near elimination to take pole position.
Chosing the wrong tyres at the start of Q2, Alonso and his team-mate Felipe Massa missed out on the best conditions and were down in 15th and 16th places when the session was red-flagged due to the dismal conditions.
When the session resumed more than an hour later, both Ferrari drivers made it into the final segment, which Alonso dominated to take pole position, his first since the 2010 Singapore GP.
"It was tricky conditions for everyone. You have to be calm in some difficult moments," said the Spaniard.
"In Q2 we were on the red flag in positions 15 and 16, Felipe and me.
"We went through and then in Q3 we had the difficult choice between inter and full wet.
"When we saw everyone on the inter, we relaxed a little and put a lap together."
However, making the right decision with the tyres was just the start as the drivers then had to do a lap on said tyres.
"It was not easy. To complete a lap with no huge mistakes is not easy in these conditions.
"I'm happy to be on pole after nearly two years.
"In these conditions the qualifying is probably the least important of the year but obviously for visibility it is always better to be on pole."
As for speculation that Alonso could be called up for setting his best time in Q2 under yellow flags, which were brought out for Romain Grosjean's stricken Lotus, the Ferrari driver was confident he had not set a personal best on that lap.
"I didn't set a green sector in that particular lap with the yellow (flags).
"I backed off in the area they were taking the car away. So I don't have any worries."
Looking ahead to Sunday's 52-lap grand prix, the Spaniard reckons it won't be easy if the rain continues.
"If the conditions stay the same we could see any type of race tomorrow.
"We could see Safety Cars and some rivers on the track that could put you at risk. Tomorrow will be a very demanding race and we need to be prepared."
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