Fisi frustrated by failure

Fisichella was mid-way through a free practice session when both his front wheels came loose after he hit the vicious kerbs at the final chicane. He was forced to switch to the spare car for the rest of the weekend, as the chassis' keel - which connects the car's lower front wishbones - appears to have been damaged.

"I'm still not sure what happened in the final corner this morning, when my front push rod broke," said Fisichella, who will start 15th at Magny-Cours on Sunday. "We are still analysing all the data. As a result I had to go to the T-car, which had most, but not all, of the latest aerodynamic package, so the grip was not quite as good. It was a difficult qualifying session for us, but we did a good job with the fuel load we were carrying."

Team-mate Felipe Massa will start one spot behind the Italian, and said: "We knew that qualifying here was going to be tough for us, as our tyres are always better in the race. Our grid places look not so good, but we will be a lot stronger in the race.

"I'm pretty happy with what I did this afternoon, especially as the track was more slippery while I was out because of the stronger wind that pushed me a little wide in the quick chicane."