Irvine upbeat despite 16th position

While the Ulsterman ended up closer to the back of the grid than the front, he believes the set-up discovered by team-mate Johnny Herbert as he put in the third fastest time will lead to valuable progress in what has been a gruelling season for the team.

"It is difficult to say where we stand to our close rivals. I ran through a series of set-up changes and don't have a clear indication because tyre degradation is clouding the picture.

"Johnny made a significant move up the time sheets which we can learn from. I think we made good progress today.

"Sixteenth position may not make pretty reading but we've got a lot more to come and we should be able to mount a solid challenge in qualifying."

"We ran our usual programme and emerged with encouraging results," said technical director Gary Anderson. "Johnny has given us some indication of balance which will be important for tomorrow. Overall we are pleased with our efforts today."

Herbert has outqualifed his team-mate three times in 12 races.