Pleased Panis Eyeing Points Finish

Frenchman Olivier Panis is looking to score points at his home Grand Prix tomorrow after qualifying in the top ten.

It was the third time in a row that Panis, celebrating his tenth anniversary in Formula One this weekend, has qualified in the top ten for his Toyota team.

"I'm happy because starting from the top ten again is a very positive result for the team, especially at a difficult track like Magny-Cours," said Panis, 10th fastest today. "I expected a little bit better, but the track temperature changed a lot since warm-up and even during the session, which made grip levels lower.

"I think everybody has done a good job and we have made continuous improvements to the car over the weekend. We should be optimistic - I am in the top ten for the third race in a row and now we have to turn that into a good race finish tomorrow in the points."

Panis's teammate Cristiano da Matta, racing for the first time at the Magny-Cours circuit, posted the 13th fastest time and from there he is looking to a strong race.

"We have taken a slightly different strategy to usual, with more emphasis on tomorrow's race, rather than this afternoon's qualifying session. With this in mind, I am quite pleased with my lap. I don't think I could have got much more out of the car, although I could have gained some time in the last chicane, maybe one or two-tenths.

"I thought a top 12 would have been possible, and we are not far from that in 13th and from there it should be a good race."