'Handful' R3 causing Jaguar problems

"The car is very twitchy in places and subsequently very difficult to place going into corners," said Irvine, who was seven tenths slower than his team-mate. "The car is proving to be quite a handful at the moment and not very forgiving. Let's see what qualifying brings but it won't be easy for us."

De la Rosa was pleased to have managed 41 laps, which allowed him to try out pretty much everything the team had planned for the day. However, he did lose some track time after being caught unawares by a slow-moving David Coulthard.

"The only real problem I suffered today was a broken front wing that came about after an incident with Coulthard," he explained. "I was pushing hard and came up behind DC who appeared to be taking on the radio or something. I tried going around him and at that point he turned into the pitlane and I was there!"

Apart from a broken wing, the Spaniard's car was undamaged and after pitting for a replacement he was able to take part in the rest of the session.