Sato excited after 'fantastic' day

"It was a fantastic day for us, really," said Sato after qualifying in 18th position.

"It was the best result we have had with our car, so I'm happy and so excited about qualifying. Not only was I doing my best laptimes but fighting for positions in a straight fight.

"So it was a great day, and I had to do it for my team and these great fans who hung a banner over our pit garage, and I really appreciated it."

The performance was Sato's strongest of the season, and now the Japanese driver is hoping for a good race tomorrow.

"I think (the heat) worked in a good way for our team because it warmed up the tyres and everything, and I was surprised that this morning with the cooler conditions and with the rain we had yesterday, I thought the track would be green again," he added.

"But this morning straight out we had really good grip. So we will wait and see what will happen tomorrow. It should be a really exciting day."

Teammate Franck Montagny, on the other hand, admitted he was "pissed off" after hitting problems that stopped him from completing another flying run. The Frenchman wound up at the bottom of the times.

"We had problems from the beginning, and we had a problem with the steering wheel," he said.

"We came in to check the tyres, to put two new tyres on ... that was the plan. But we came back and we had to go the scales to check the car. I had problems there, and we couldn't restart the car. The car was stuck in gear.

"I couldn't shift up or down, so I can't do the laptime. So of course, I'm pissed off."