Sato: I nailed it!

Sato timed his final qualifying run to perfection and took the flag with just seconds to spare, and went on to stop the clock at 1m33.090s, which was good enough for seventh - the best qualifying performance of his F1 career.

"I'm so happy," he said. "The car was good, I was comfortable and drove exactly as I wanted to. I just nailed it! The fan support here is superb, they reacted as if I had won the race and it was just qualifying. Realistically the race is still going to be tough, but my target is to score points."

Sato's effort bumped Giancarlo Fisichella to eighth, but the Italian was pleased to achieve his goal of a top 10 grid position and saluted his team-mate's performance.

"I'm happy for Takuma because it's his home grand prix and he did very well," he said. "Unfortunately on my last run the automatic downshift went completely mad and I couldn't improve my time. I think there was the possibility to be even better yet, but unfortunately that little problem happened. Anyway, it's been a good day."

It was the first time this season that both Jordans made the top 10 of the grid and puts the team in a great position to score the two points it needs to overtake BAR and Jaguar for sixth in the constructors' standings.