Frustrated Verstappen Rues Problems

Dutchman Jos Verstappen was frustrated after failing to set a time in opening qualifying for the United States Grand Prix.

It was the second race in a row that the Minardi driver was unable to complete his lap in Friday's qualifying session. Today, Verstappen was hit by an electronics problem on the warm-up lap that meant his car's engine would not run properly.

"I must say, the car felt pretty bad the first thing out this morning," said Verstappen. "On our fastest run in the first two hours, the car stopped with a fuel pickup problem. For the one-hour session, we had also changed brakes because they'd been locking badly.

"I was reasonably happy with the balance in the wet conditions. In qualifying, for the second time in a row, we couldn't complete our run. We're pretty disappointed and hope for a better day tomorrow."

Dane Nicolas Kiesa was luckier than his teammate, although the Formula One rookie had to complete his flying lap in the wet. Kiesa finished in 19th position more than 12 seconds off the pace.

"This is the first time I've driven a Formula One car in the wet, and it went OK since it was the first time," said Kiesa. "I wanted to set the best possible time, but I didn't want to push so hard as to risk going off, as I needed the experience of the full lap.

"In addition, with Jos not able to complete his qualifying run, I didn't have any sort of benchmark to work with. In the end, I didn't push hard enough, but I also know where significant improvements can be made."