Fisichella Endures Qualifying Nightmare

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella endured a nightmare qualifying session that saw him finishing in a disappointing 17th position ahead of tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix.

"We had a few problems fitting the race engine on my car so I couldn't do the warm-up session," the Jordan driver explained. "We changed engines and there was still a problem so we went to the T-car, which was set up for Ralph, and I had not driven it all weekend.

"It's been quite a frustrating weekend and it will be difficult tomorrow. I'm disappointed, but these things happen. Anyway, you never know. I still hope to score some points."

Fisichella, the winner of the Brazilian Grand Prix last month, was outqualified by his rookie teammate Ralph Firman for the first time this season. The Briton, who posted the 15th fastest time of the session, was hoping to have a good race and score his first points.

"I feel quite happy with qualifying," said Firman. "We are getting a lot closer to a good set-up and I'm hoping for positive things tomorrow. We may be in with a shout of scoring a point if we have a good race. It's going to be a long hard race but I'm looking forward to it.

"I was surprised to see Giancarlo out on the circuit as when I left the garage the car was still in bits, although I was really focusing on my own thing."