Fisichella Baffled by Lack of Pace

Fisichella suffered a major oversteer moment at Turn 15 on his lap, which forced him to back off and lose valuable time. With teammate Fernando Alonso grabbing a slot on the provisional front row, Fisichella again looks like losing further ground in the World Championship battle.

Speaking after the session, Fisichella said he had no explanation as to why his lap had gone wrong and claimed the team would look into the car data to try and find the reason.

"We haven't found an explanation yet in the data, but going into turn 15, the rear brakes locked and that caused major oversteer," said the Italian, who has failed to finish the last two Grands Prix.

"I did everything the same as in practice, braking in the same place, so I don't think it was a mistake, but we are not sure yet. Obviously, it is very disappointing, because we know the car can be quick here, so I am hoping for a much better day tomorrow and some points."

Renault's executive director of engineer Pat Symonds remained hopeful that despite the lowly provisional grid position Fisichella could still take something away from the weekend.

"With the times being so closely matched, he has paid a heavy penalty in terms of grid position," he said. "But we know he is capable of driving a strong race on this difficult circuit tomorrow afternoon."