De la Rosa Blames Wrong Tyres

Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa blamed his tyre choice and a bad timing for not being able to finish higher up the grid in Saturday's qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

However, the Jaguar driver was able to put a promising performance by setting the tenth fastest time of they day at Spa, outqualifying teammate Eddie Irvine for the fourth consecutive race this season.

With the track drying up quickly in the final moments of the session, de la Rosa was one of the many drivers to choose intermediate tyres, which at the end proved to be the wrong choice.

"Wrong tyres and going out at the wrong time â€" two simple requirements, but we got them both wrong today," said de la Rosa. "I didn't get a good lap and while I'm starting the race from the fifth row, the simple fact is that we should have been way higher up the order.

"Unlike Eddie, I am reasonably well placed to get something out of this race. Let's see what tomorrow now brings, but it could have been better today."

Irvine posted a disappointing 17th quickest time after a difficult day, and the Ulsterman was not confident for tomorrow's race.

"Starting a race at Spa from the front is hard enough, but from 17th place, it's a mountain too steep to climb," he said. "We'll give it our best shot, of course, but it doesn't get much harder than this."