JPM rues costly error

The Williams driver was on target for pole after the first two sectors of his flying lap, but a mistake in the final sector cost him dear. The Colombian will line up alongside Renault's Jarno Trulli and is confident of a strong race despite his disappointing afternoon.

"It's a shame that I couldn't again set the fastest time in qualifying, after such a good pre-qualifying lap," he said. "In qualifying I was quickest in the first two sectors, but then I made a mistake because I was pushing too hard and lost the rear of my car in the second high-speed chicane and I could only set the sixth time.

"The positive thing is that we showed today that the pace is there and this means we should have a strong race car. Anyway, we'll see tomorrow how we are going to perform compared with everybody else."

Team-mate Marc Gene, who is competing in his first Grand Prix this year as he replaces the injured Ralf Schumacher, was happy with his qualifying effort and targets points in Sunday's race.

"Having managed to do a good job at the right moment was the most important thing," said the Spaniard. "In my pre-qualifying lap I found it difficult to get suddenly used to a different fuel load and I made a mistake, but my qualifying lap was ok, even if I know I could have been a couple of tenths quicker, maybe. Anyway, that was my best lap so far this weekend!

"If on Wednesday somebody had told me that I would have set this time, I would have signed-up for it, without doubt! Starting from the fourth row is still a good position and I my aim for the race tomorrow is to collect as many points as possible for the team."