McNish Dismisses Pit Exit Concerns

Scot Allan McNish claimed on Saturday that the new pitlane exit at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is unlikely to cause problems during Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix.

McNish, of Toyota, said that he was happy with the exit during Friday's free practice. It was extended on Saturday to avoid drivers leaving the pits interfering with those coming through the first corner.

But McNish, who qualified a disappointing 20th, insisted that he does not feel the pitlane exit will cause any problems during the race and heaped praise on the marshals controlling that area of the Montreal circuit.

"I actually think it is okay," said McNish. "I actually thought it was okay yesterday without the extension and I can see how people would be concerned because you've got to look right when you come out. But the flag marshals are doing a good job there - I've noticed that they are really on the ball.

"If you look when you are coming up to the corner to see if someone is there I can't see there being a problem in reality. I think it is a lot better than what the previous one looked to be."

McNish expressed his disappointment at his qualifying performance after admitting he expected a similar performance to that in Monaco two weeks ago, when he qualified in the top-ten along with teammate Mika Salo.

He struggled to master the tricky kerbs in Montreal and insisted that it is just a case of running the entirety of the race in the hope of scoring an unexpected point.

"Very disappointing to be honest," was his verdict of qualifying. "Coming on the back of Monaco where we had a pretty good car from the start and we thought it would be similar round here but it is not.

"We seemed to struggle a bit with the kerbs and that is what this circuit is all about - straights and kerbs. Every corner you've got a kerb you go straight across and we struggled with that."

He added: "I think in race trim the car will be a lot better from a feeling point of view. I think it will be a bit better but starting from where we are it is going to be tricky and it will be a case of hanging on.

"If you can get a jump at the start then you can take it but it is going to be a bit tricky. But here you can overtake, there is the opportunity but you have got to be quick through the previous corner to be able to do it."