Panis eyes points in race 150

It seemed the Frenchman could have achieved an even higher placing if his third spot in pre-qualifying was anything to go on. But Panis was unable to emulate his feat in the all-important final qualifying session but believes points are definitely on the cards.

"I felt comfortable in the car and my qualifying lap went well," he said. "I am quite happy with my starting position for the race and from eighth on the grid, it is certainly a realistic target to score points tomorrow. We are getting the full potential out of the TF104 and everyone continues to do a great job. On the one hand, to be only one-tenth from the top five is a shame, but on the other, it shows the positive development of the entire team."

Team-mate Cristiano da Matta though was not satisfied with his 11th place and felt his earlier form in the practice sessions had promised more.

"I was expecting more from qualifying today based on our performance in the practice," said the Brazilian. "I suffered with less grip than in the previous sessions, which prevented me from attacking as much as I have been able to throughout the weekend. Nevertheless, we have demonstrated more competitiveness at this track than at any other all season, so I remain optimistic for the race."

Technical boss Mike Gascoyne added: "Although this is one of our best qualifying performances of the year so far, we are all a little bit disappointed that we were unable to get both cars in the top ten and higher up the grid. Both drivers were unhappy with the grip levels in the second session, which we will look into, but overall we have a competitive package for the race, so we have to target points for both cars tomorrow."