Delighted Villeneuve 'Quicker Than Expected'

Jacques Villeneuve is hoping to score points at tomorrow's San Marino Grand Prix after putting on a solid performance in qualifying at the Imola circuit.

The BAR driver, who scored his first points of the season at the Brazilian Grand Prix two weeks ago, posted the seventh fastest time with the Honda-powered car. Villeneuve said he was delighted with his performance and admitted he wasn't expecting to be so fast.

"I'm very happy with my lap because it's quicker than we had been expecting," the Canadian admitted. "We've been working all weekend towards race set-up so to get a good lap in qualy today is great. There was still a tenth to be had in the last corner but I think the signs are good for the race tomorrow.

"We've always qualified well here and been worse off in the race, but it looks like things will be much better for us this year if it's dry. If it rains then it may be a different story because it will be hard to warm the tyres."

Teammate Jenson Button, meanwhile, was disappointed after making an error during his flying lap while he looked set to finish ahead of the Canadian. The Briton, however, had to settle for ninth position.

"The first two sectors of my qualifying lap were OK but then I went a bit wide in the high speed chicane up the hill and lost a bit of time," explained Button. "I also had a bit too much understeer in the high speed corners. I'm disappointed but I don't think we're looking too bad for tomorrow."