Alonso blames driving error for poor slot

The Renault driver was the quickest man in both the first and second parts of today's qualifying, but he finished only fourth in the decisive session after a mistake during his best lap.

Alonso's error meant he had to complete another flying lap and, with the tyres already worn, he had to settle for fourth.

"A pretty disappointing result for me really," said Alonso. "The qualifying session was very busy, like we expected, and as I had said before the weekend, it didn't change too much for me because the aim was still to complete three quick laps during the hour.

"The car felt good, and we didn't make any changes to the front wing or anything, but I made a mistake on my first timed lap at the end of the session, and that meant I had to do another one. Obviously, the tyres weren't in such a good condition by then, which meant I ended up only P4.

"Still, the second row is not too bad, we know the car is quick, so let's see what happens tomorrow."

The day was worse for teammate Giancarlo Fisichella, who claimed his car was not performing when fitted with new tyres.

The Italian wound up ninth.

"I am really disappointed to be only ninth," he said. "We saw the car was competitive in the two qualifying Heats, as we could set good times quite easily. Things were running smoothly, until I put the new tyres on and suddenly the performance was not there - I lost a lot of speed, and just couldn't do the times we should have been capable of.

"We don't know why yet, so we will be looking carefully tonight. Still, I think it was quite an exciting hour for the spectators with lots happening on track, and we have a good strategy. Even from ninth, we can have a strong race."