Kovalainen apologises after crash

The Finn had already hit the wall in yesterday's practice, and things continue dto go wrong today after the Renault driver lost an engine this morning.

In qualifying, where he already knew he was going to be penalised for the engine change, Kovalainen lost control of his car and crashed against the wall again.

The Finn managed to return to the pits and get his car repaired, but was still unable to make it past the first segment, finishing as 19th quickest.

"The first thing I want to say is thank you to my mechanics: they have worked so hard all weekend, changing chassis overnight, the engine this morning, and then making repairs during the first part of qualifying after I hit the wall," said Kovalainen. 

"They have done a really incredible job, and I am just sorry that I couldn't pay them back with a better qualifying performance.

"I went into the session knowing that I would have an engine penalty, but I was determined to push right to the limit to get as far up the grid as I could. I hit the kerbs hard in turn 4 on my timed lap and lost the rear end, which damaged the wing and the floor.

"The team repaired as much as they could, but it was hard to have full confidence in the car after that. I hoped I had done enough to get through to the second round, but it wasn't to be.

"There is no point pretending that it won't be a tough afternoon tomorrow, but we knew I would be starting a long way back, and adjusted the set-up accordingly."

Teammate Giancarlo Fisichella completed a disappointing day for Renault after a mistake during his final flying lap.

The Italian's previous best was only good enough for ninth place on the grid.

"I have had a great weekend so far, which makes it even more unfortunate that I didn't have a very good final lap in the third part of qualifying," he said. "The car felt really strong in Q2, and I still had some laptime left in hand, so I was feeling very confident of a strong starting position.

"But on my final timed lap, I made a mistake in turn 6 - and then was pushing really hard to try and make the time back up, and lost the car again in turns 10 and 13. We were expecting to start from higher up the grid than P9, but I think we can stay positive for tomorrow.

"The car is very competitive on the harder tyre, which is likely to be the main race tyre for most of the teams, and I think we have a very strong pace. I am confident that I can turn the situation around in the race."