Fisichella Mystified by Lack of Pace

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella failed to find a reason for his poor performance in Saturday's qualifying for the European Grand Prix.

The Jordan driver, who had started from sixth position in the last race in Canada, endured a torrid session today and could only post a disappointing 18th fastest time, also being outqualified by teammate Takuma Sato for the second time in 2002.

Fisichella admitted he could not explain what the problems were with his Honda-powered car, and was hoping for a better performance on Sunday.

"I'm confused. I don't know why but it's been a tough session for us," admitted Fisichella. "There is something wrong because 18th is, of course, not the position we expect. We will look at the data and everything and hope for a better day tomorrow."

Japanese Sato enjoyed a better session than his teammate, but his 14th position was no consolation for the Silverstone-based team.

"I'm a bit disappointed as our positions are not very good," said technical chief Gary Anderson. "We had a problem correcting understeer in this circuit's long corners and also the car's nervousness at high speed.

"Takuma did a capable job and got the best he could out of the car. It's nice to see him get a break of good luck for a change."