Fisichella 'confused' after practice

The Renault driver struggled for grip when using the softer tyre option, finishing down in 15th position in the afternoon session.

Fisichella reckons the French squad will not be as competitive as they were in Canada last weekend.

"I must admit that I came out of the session a little bit confused," said Fisichella. "You always expect to find more grip when you run the softer tyre, but I didn't feel a big step in performance today, and we will have to work this evening to understand why.

"The car had quite a lot of understeer this morning, and we have worked to get rid of it step by step. There are still some improvements to be made, but we are getting there. I had a very positive feeling last week in Montreal, and it is not the same here today.

"The times make the situation look worse than it is, because I was held up on my quickest lap, but I think it is going to be a tougher race in terms of competitiveness than last weekend."

Heikki Kovalainen, driving at Indianapolis for the first time today, had a more positive day, setting the eighth quickest time after a trouble-free practice.

"After the problems last week in Canada, this was just the kind of day I wanted: no technical problems, and lots of laps on the board," the Finn said. "We got a lot done, and improved the car with every run.

"There is still a little way to go in order to dial out some of the understeer we are suffering from, but we will work hard overnight to find some more performance.

"It was important to have a trouble-free day because this is another new track for me. I found a good rhythm pretty quickly and I have to say that I think it's a fun circuit to drive. I have heard some people complaining that it is not challenging enough, but I don't agree.

"There are some nice sequences of corners, and you can really attack the curves and the exit kerbs too. We know from the past that the lap-times here are always extremely close in qualifying, because it is such a short lap. That means it will be vital to get 100% out of the car tomorrow afternoon - and I am confident we can do it."