Salo Downbeat after Qualifying Struggle

Finn Mika Salo admitted he was very disappointed after qualifying down in 18th place for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix at the Barcelona circuit.

The Toyota driver, impressive in the first three races of the year with two six places in Australia and Brazil, has struggled since the start of the European season at Imola two weeks ago.

In today's session, the Japanese squad failed to shine again and the veteran driver was downbeat after a dismal performance.

"I am very disappointed with 18th position to be honest," said Salo. "However, we are where we belong in the field with this car. We need to make some aerodynamic improvements to the car soon or we will find it quite difficult to continually improve throughout the season."

Teammate Allan McNish, who qualified 20th, completed a poor day for the Cologne-based team, the Scot being involved in an incident after he hit a bump in the kerb on his second run. McNish spun and touched the wall slightly, but his car was not damaged.

"The car was much better balanced in qualifying trim and we were able to do a lap time quicker than I expected, unfortunately it is just not quick enough," McNish said.