Renault 'bitterly disappointed' after rain

After his blinding pace yesterday, the Italian was the last to take to the track today. However, with the heavens opening midway through the session, Trulli was helpless to fight for pole against runners who'd set times on a dry track. In the end the conditions had deteriorated so badly that Trulli aborted his run following the warm-up lap.

"After such a promising start to the weekend, today's qualifying result is bitterly disappointing," admitted Symonds. "What can I say for Jarno? He must be the unluckiest man in Formula 1: in the space of twenty-four hours, he has gone from being the fastest man out there to last on the grid, through no fault of his own. We decided it was not even worth doing the timed lap, and called him in to save fuel for the race."

Trulli was also left to question his luck. "What can you say about that?" he asked. "Every race, I am fighting for my first pole position, and this weekend I was on course to get it. We worked hard this morning, and I was very competitive, even if the times didn't necessarily make it look that way. Then, the rain came and destroyed my chances."