BAR rues poor tyre decision

The team chose to keep drivers Jenson Button and Takuma Sato on extreme wet Michelins in drying conditions, but their rubber overheated and caused them both to slide around the track far too much. Button salvaged 12th, while Sato will start from down in 15th.

"It's disappointing to be 12th on the grid as it has been a very long time since we have had a poor qualifying session," said Button. "We made the wrong tyre choice due to the standing water that was on the track and this cost us in our performance today. I don't know what we can do from back there."

Sato added: "I had very poor grip by the end of the lap. Although the rain had stopped, the wet tyre just did not have the grip at all. It was the worst conditions for the tyre because it simply overheated."

Team principal David Richards said: "As anticipated, the fickle Ardennes weather has created an interesting qualifying session. Both our drivers were on the track at a time when it was a fine line between the choice of wet or extreme wet tyres and, unfortunately, the safe choice did not pay off on this occasion."