Burti says he's the happiest man in F1

The Brazilian was traded to the French team last week because Jaguar wanted to promote test driver Pedro de la Rosa to a race seat.

While the Spaniard was a lowly 20th in his Jaguar debut - at his home race - and a full second slower than Eddie Irvine in 13th, Burti starts 14th, a place ahead of Alesi.

"I can say that, at least for today, I am the happiest person in F1," said Burti. "Right from the start the team has made me feel welcome and relaxed and I think that contributed to my performance."

Burti had faced continuing speculation about his future at Jaguar because the appointment was made before Bobby Rahal and Niki Lauda took the helm. He was released to Prost last week.

Burti admitted he did not expect to go so well in his first appearance for the French team.

"I thought I would have had some difficulties with the car's set up, because I hadn't had much time to work on it, but it came together in the end," he said.

Burti played down his expectations for the race.

"I am still adapting myself with the car and with the team," he said. "I used to drive with power steering and it will be very hard to keep a good performance during all the race.

"My goal is to finish the race and be able to learn as much as I can from this weekend so I can improve my performance in the next races."