Irvine: 'I couldn't do any more'

The Ulsterman says that his last lap could have been better had Olivier Panis' BAR not blocked him - but it would have made little difference anyway. His team-mate Pedro de la Rosa qualified 17th.

"I am finding it very hard indeed to get to grips with this car," Irvine said. "Pedro has done a better job with it and that's probably down to his style of driving, particularly the way he tackles the corners. I like carrying speed through the corners and this car isn't conducive to my approach."

Team boss Niki Lauda said that he was not surprised at the new R3's performance, following the problems faced in the season-opening Australian GP. There has been little time to study what is wrong and come up with solutions between the two races.

"I very much doubt that half the field will retire tomorrow, as was the case in Melbourne, and we will therefore aim to generate as much data as possible from the race," Lauda said. "This, combined with next week's back-to-back test with last year's R2, will dictate what we do from here on.

"We must keep our cool, be logical and move forward in a systematic way. We are disappointed, yes, but everybody is keeping their heads up and thinking positively about the challenge ahead."

The team is considering a switch back to the R2, a move which proved logistically impossible for Malaysia. Irvine said: "Either way, we need to find a way out of this quite fast. Together with Niki and Guenther [Steiner, technical director], I'm sure we'll find a way. I really don't think it's a case of 'if' we'll find a way out - it's more a case of 'when'.

"Next week is critical to our season and everybody is working to the limit now in an effort to break through this difficult issue."