Briatore criticises Fisichella for being 'lazy'

Briatore accused Fisichella, who he has re-signed for next season, of being lazy after he was outperformed by team-mate Alexander Wurz.

The Austrian, who is not being kept on next year, starts four places higher in 11th spot.

The two drivers have only qualified worse than this once before - two races ago in Belgium - as their season continues to go downhill.

"The result this afternoon highlights the difference between our two drivers. Alex applied his mind to the race and studied everything carefully before he arrived at Indianapolis," said Briatore.

"Giancarlo tried to rely on his talent which is no substitute for hard work. This appears to be a repeat of the situation we found ourselves in at Malaysia last year."

Fisichella was also criticised by technical director Pat Symonds. "Giancarlo does not seem to have understood the circuit," he said. "That may be a result of his mistake on Friday which cost him valuable circuit time.

"But even so it is hard to understand why he is so slow."

Fisichella himself was confused. "I don't really understand. This morning the car was good but in qualifying it seemed to have lost grip and was really difficult to drive. I'm disappointed with 15th."

Wurz said the team faced a long night's work to improve the car's performance.

"I'm happy with my performance today. The last set-up changes we made to me car enabled me to jump a lot of places on the grid on my last run," he said.

"But we are not where we expected to be and we need to study the data tonight and see where we can improve for the race."

For the starting grid for the US GP click HERE.