Mixed feelings for Lotus bosses

Drivers Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen qualified in 20th and 21st positions respectively, and the duo were outqualified by the Virgin of Timo Glock, who gave his team the best position for a new team today.

Gascoyne admitted he was sorry to miss out on that achievement, but he was pleased with the team effort considering the short time it had to prepare for its first race.

"It's a little bit mixed emotions today," said Gascoyne, "we wanted to be the best of the new teams, and we just missed out on that by a fraction, but as the last of the new teams to have been given an entry, only six months ago, it's a fantastic effort by the whole team to have finished our first qualifying session.

"We now look forward to the race and with the strength of our reliability, and two very experienced race drivers, now it's all about finishing."

Team principal Tony Fernandes was thrilled with his team's showing and praised Trulli for breaking the two-minute barrier.

"I'm happy, very very happy," he said. "It was fantastic to see Lotus back on the grid after a 16-year absence, and with the potential for so many things to have gone wrong, it's just great to have finished our first qualifying session.

"Jarno broke the two-minute mark and that's a great achievement in itself."