Last-gasp lap lifts Villeneuve

The pressure was on for the French Canadian because Monte Carlo's notorious qualifying traffic had blocked him on his first two qualifying runs. He had just one hot lap to move up the timesheets and did exactly that right at the end of the session.

"On the first two runs I had traffic," explained Villeneuve, "So I knew there was a better lap to be had. It was just a question of 'Attack! Attack!'

"I've started further back than 14th before and managed to finish in the points. So anything is possible here. It's a long race - you have to be fast and not make any mistakes. That is the key to Monaco."

Villeneuve was the fastest of the BAR drivers, with team mate Olivier Panis starting four places back in 18th. The former Monaco Grand Prix race winner was particularly upset at having his last qualifying shot ruined by Minardi's Alex Yoong.

"I'm really disappointed with 18th because qualifying has been much better for me over the last few races," said Panis. "My third run was definitely the quickest and I was four-tenths up in my first two sectors, but then I was blocked by Yoong in the last sector and it ruined a good time for me."