Jenson Button admits he was impressed by team-mate Lewis Hamilton's flying lap, which saw the latter steal pole away from the Red Bull racers.
For the first time this season, a grand prix will not have a Red Bull in pole position after Hamilton's 1:15.105 ensured he put an end to the Bull's run.
And rather than be disappointed that he wasn't the man to do it, Button, who could only manage P5, has praised his team-mate.
"It was alright. I struggled in Q1, but I realised I wasn't getting enough heat in the tyres," said the reigning World Champ.
"I ended up doing longer runs, I was doing three laps in Q3, instead of the normal two that most people did. It worked for me and I'm pretty happy with the lap.
"The problem was the tyres were cooling down too much, and I had one rear brake that for some reason was getting very cold, I had to really hammer the brakes on my out laps. It was a fun Q3.
"I'd rather be further up and alongside Lewis, but I'm happy with the lap.
"I crossed the line thinking that was it for me, so Lewis did a phenomenal job. He's very quick round here, I think he's qualified on pole every time he's raced here."
The McLaren driver is now looking forward to what he hopes will be an "interesting" race given that some drivers, such as his team-mate Hamilton, are on the softer tyres while others, like the Red Bull duo, are on the harder rubber.
"It's good to see that people are running different tyres in Q3, it's the first time this year. We've got primes and options, our main rivals, which are Red Bull, are running primes. It's going to be an interesting start of the race, seeing if they can overtake.
"It's a quicker tyre the prime tyre, but at some point, they are going to have to run the option. If they are stuck up behind Lewis, I'm sure they are going to be frustrated.
"It's going to be a fun race, I' looking forward to it.
"Strategy is going to be important so working with your tyres quickly. So being flat out every lap might not be the quickest way to the end of the race."
Related Links
Gallery: Finally, it's not a Bull on pole
Qualy Report: Hamilton takes pole position
