Fisi disappointed not to be top five

The Italian lay in the top six for much of a wet, but drying session, but was demoted to eighth in the closing minutes as a number of leading drivers gambled on a final run on slick tyres. Prior to Spa, Benetton has struggled with its radical, but somewhat underpowered wide-angle V10.

"We are happy with eighth position, which was our target for today," said Fisichella. "Personally I'm a bit disappointed, because I think I could have been among the top five."

Fisichella's team mate Jenson Button lines up 15th after running with intermediates, but never making the switch to slicks.

Technical director Mike Gascoyne admitted the team had not guessed absolutely correctly on when to fit slicks, saying: "We did not get the timing quite right with either car in terms of being on the track at the best moment, but on the other hand it is very easy to get it wrong in these conditions. If we had got the timing right with Giancarlo, who was on slick tyres during the final laps, we could have been even higher up."