Frustrated Alesi Confident of Good Result

Veteran driver Jean Alesi was somewhat frustrated after qualifying in 14th place for the German Grand Prix, but claimed he was really happy with his Prost's handling.

The Frenchman, who had shined in Friday's practice after setting the eighth quickest time, was unable to repeat his performance despite being pleased with the way his Ferrari-powered AP01 run at the German circuit. Despite his low position, Alesi was confident of a good result on Sunday.

"Unfortunately today’s position does not reflect the very good feeling I have with my car," admitted Alesi. "I am indeed very satisfied with its balance and with the settings we have chosen. I am therefore quite happy with this qualifying session and I feel even more confident for tomorrow's race than I have ever been this season."

Teammate Luciano Burti endure a troubled session in his first visit to Hockenheim, the Brazilian spinning off the track in the final moments of qualifying and crashing against the tyre barriers. Burti was not happy after finishing the day with the 16th quickest time.

"I am a bit disappointed," Burti said. "We managed to improve the car a lot after the difficulties we faced yesterday, and we improved again from this morning. Then, unfortunately, I made a mistake on my last outing at the first chicane. This cost me some time and I pushed very hard to improve the end of the lap, and I lost the car in the fast chicane of the Stadium. I think I just tried a little bit too hard. But I am not worried at all for tomorrow."