Button was Expecting More

Button missed the front row of the grid after setting the fourth quickest time, over 0.7 seconds behind pole-setter Fernando Alonso.

The BAR driver was pleased with his position but said he could have been higher up the grid had he not had problems with his car's handling.

"I'm pleased with our fourth position today, although we expected a little bit more to be honest," said Button. "In low-speed corners the car was working well but we had a bit of oversteer in the high-speed corners which meant that I had to get off the throttle in turn 11, the quick left-hander, which made me lose a bit of time.

"I was two tenths down on Montoya but the wind was so gusty and I could see that I was losing tenth after tenth as I came down the straight. The second row of the grid isn't a bad place to be given our strategy so we'll wait and see what happens tomorrow. I'm optimistic that we can get a good result from here."

Teammate Takuma Sato endured another tough day.

The Japanese driver, whose hopes of a good result were already hampered by a 10-position penalty following an incident at Spa, decided not to set a time after an engine change ahead of qualifying.

"Another difficult day for me," said Sato. "We were hoping to carry the momentum from yesterday over into today's free practice but we had problems in both sessions which meant that I had very little running. As a result, I didn't get the opportunity to put in a new tyre run, which is a big shame because I don't know how the car behaves on new tyres.

"For qualifying we decided to complete only an installation lap so that we can maximise the opportunities for the race tomorrow. Obviously I had to start from the back of the grid anyway, so we approached our strategy with that in mind. I am confident that we have a strong package and, as always, I will be fighting hard for a good result."