Fisichella's confidence rewarded

Giancarlo Fisichella exceeded his expectations by taking his best starting position of the year in qualifying for the Hungarian GP. The Italian said after free practice that he was hopeful of taking a top eight starting position, but after coming within a tenth of a place on the second row he now has his sights set on a top six race finish

Aug 17, 2002, 2:04 PM

"I'm very pleased," he said. "We've been quick all weekend. Fifth is great for the race start tomorrow and I'm feeling positive and very strong mentally. Physically, it's going to be a very difficult race, but I'm confident. I like the circuit and I hope to score points."

Takuma Sato had all but matched his team-mate's pace in free practice but ran out of luck when he needed it most. After traffic ruined his opening effort he was then forced to switch to the spare when the engine in his race car started losing oil. All of these factors combined to leave him back in a disappointing 14th.

"What bad luck," he lamented. "I aborted my first attack when a Renault spun in front of me and I set my fastest time on the second outing. On the third run I could see smoke coming from the car and some oil was leaking out. I jumped into the T-car for my final attempt but unfortunately it wasn't quite the same as my race car."