Herbert wins midfield Stewart battle

Herbert had to use the spare car after his race car ground to a halt early in the session.

'It was annoying to have the problem on my first out lap,' he admitted. 'The car simply died on me.

'Then I missed out on getting in another lap in at the end of the session by a couple of seconds. It was a shame because we made a set-up change before my final run and I'm sure I could have improved my time.'

Team leader Barrichello had been on pole for much of the session, but lost out when the track dried.

'I was a hero for the first half an hour but by the end I finished 15th. I haven't made things easy for the race,' he grimaced. 'We decided to go for just one long run at the end. In hindsight the strategy didn't work because when I had the tyres working I found myself without a clear track.'

'There are good and bad days in Formula One, and today was a bad one for us,' team boss Paul Stewart concluded. 'The weather made it a bit of a lottery for everyone, and we were one of the teams that came out worst.'