Fisichella Optimistic of Points Finish

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella is confident of scoring some points at tomorrow's Hungarian Grand Prix after completing his best qualifying performance of the year.

The Roman Jordan driver, who returned to the Silverstone-based squad this year, posted the fifth quickest time of the session behind the two Ferrari and Williams drivers as the Jordan team continue making progress after a strong performance in Germany last month.

Fisichella, looking for his first points since the Canadian Grand Prix in June, was optimistic of a top six finish in the race.

"This is another good qualifying result and my best this year, so I'm very pleased," said Fisichella at the end of the session. "We've been quick all weekend and yesterday I was confident that we could be on the front three or four rows.

"Fifth is great for the race start tomorrow and I'm feeling positive and very strong mentally. Physically, it's going to be a very difficult race, but I'm confident. I like the circuit and I hope to score points."

Fisichella's teammate Takuma Sato did not enjoy the same kind of luck, the Japanese rookie being hit by mechanical problems that hampered his progress. Sato wound up 14th quickest.

"I aborted my first attack when a Renault spun in front of me and I set my fastest time on the second outing," explained Sato. "On the third run I could see smoke coming from the car and some oil was leaking out. I jumped into the T-car for my final attempt but unfortunately it wasn't quite the same as my race car."