Bruni Hindered by Mechanical Problem

A mechanical problem in his Minardi hindered Italian Gianmaria Bruni's chances of setting a time in today's qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Bruni could run in pre-qualifying but a problem with his car saw him staying in the pits in the grid-deciding session.

"I had a good run in the pre-qualifying session and set the fastest-ever lap for a Minardi around Interlagos," said Bruni. "On the 'in' lap, however, I experienced a problem with the car and, as a result, decided not to take part in the qualifying session.

"Even so, I'm sure tomorrow is going to be a good race and I will try to get the best result I can in the final event of the year."

His teammate Zsolt Baumgartner enjoyed a better session but was still unable to escape the final row of the grid.

"Generally, it has been a good day," said Baumgartner. "I was quite competitive compared with my teammate all morning and I was very happy in qualifying that I could be that close to the Jordan with just half-a-tenth of a second between us."