Disappointed Firman Rues Driving Error

Ralph Firman was disappointed after making a costly error on his flying lap in today's first qualifying session for the Austrian Grand Prix.

British rookie Firman, driving a Jordan, skidded across the line backwards in a shower of debris after running wide and smashing into the barriers on the finish straight. The crash brought out the red flags for the second time in the session and Firman will be the second driver to go out in tomorrow's session.

"It's a shame. The car felt really good and I was pushing hard, but obviously too hard on the final corner," said Firman, who despite his crash was less than a tenth slower than Minardi's Justin Wilson. "As I came through the corner I ran a little bit too wide and tried to keep my foot in to get a good lap time but I went on the grass and hit the wall.

"I'm disappointed for myself as I was on a good lap and I also feel sorry that the boys have got a fair bit of work to do repairing the car. It was pretty good this afternoon, a lot better than this morning, maybe because the temperatures dropped off. We have to try our best tomorrow - that's the important one."

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella enjoyed a better session, posting the 10th quickest time in the second Jordan.

"That was not too bad, to be honest, as the top ten is our target," said the Italian. "The car was quite good in qualifying but curiously it was completely different from this morning so because of that although I did a clean lap, I didn't push to the limit.

"I'm sure we could have been a bit better so I'm quite confident for tomorrow. I hope to be in the top ten again and score some points."