Williams Pair Lament Lack of Pace

Webber and Heidfeld could manage no better than 13th and 14th quickest respectively after failing to show any decent pace all weekend - which has come just a few days after engine supplier BMW announced it was buying Sauber.

Webber admitted that the team were under-performing and that their best hope for tomorrow's French Grand Prix now was merely to get into the points.

"We have been trying to make the car go faster every session, but clearly we don't have the pace to be at the front here," he said. "The car is reliable and doesn't feel too bad, which is clearly positive, but this weekend so far has been a tough one for us.

"It's a shame but we will now work hard for tomorrow in order to try and get some points. I hope our strategy will pay off in the race."

Despite failing to set quick times during free practice, Heidfeld believed that the team would have done better in qualifying.

"I would have thought we'd been a bit quicker today.," he explained. "The car felt good yesterday, especially in the high-speed corners, but we are not satisfied with our lap times.

"My qualifying lap was all right, even though I went out very early when the track was still slow. We should be stronger in the race, as has been the case at some other races this season, and this is what I hope for tomorrow. Also the weather for Sunday looks favourable for us, since higher temperatures are expected, and this should help our tyres."