Kerbs the problem for Toyota

Chief designer Gustav Brunner is absent from Canada and is likely to miss most of the rest of the races as he concentrates on next year's design, but optimism was high after a promising performance from Salo on Friday. Almost 55 percent of the Montreal lap is run at full throttle and engine performance is a Toyota strong point. Braking efficiency is also key, another ingredient which the team had full confidence in. After producing its best joint qualifying performance of the season in Monaco however, the team has served up its worst in Canada.

"Unfortunately, we just cannot make the car handle well over the kerbs," Salo explained. "It's pretty much the same problem we had at Imola for the first European race of the year. The car is okay on the kerbs with a full fuel load but it jumps around too much when we are in qualifying trim. It hits the kerb so hard that it jumps really high and then you can't get the power on early enough."

Salo confirmed that he expects the Toyotas to perform better in the race and that at least overtaking is not as difficult in Montreal as at some other circuits.

The Finn lapped in 1m15.111s, which was 2.275s behind Juan Montoya's pole position time. McNish was 0.21s slower.

Team president Ove Andersson said: "As Mika explained, it's a similar situation to the one we faced at Imola and although we have some modifications coming, they are not ready yet. But we are learning and that's what I keep saying. This year we have some excuses, next year may be different!"