Sauber Blames Tyres for Poor Showing

Team boss Peter Sauber blamed the Bridgestone tyres for the Swiss squad's poor showing in final qualifying for the French Grand Prix.

German drivers Nick Heidfeld and Heinz-Harald Frentzen were unable to repeat their Friday performance, when they finished third and eighth respectively in the wet, and finished near the bottom of the timesheets in 15th and 16th positions, more than two seconds off the pace.

"We are not happy with these positions, that's for sure," said Sauber after qualifying. "But from a factual point of view we had to expect them. We were hoping to get closer to the BAR cars.

"But the clear difference to the first half of the table is a matter of tyres, rather than the performance of the car itself."

Only the Bridgestone-shod Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello were able to make it into a top ten dominated by Michelin runners. Frentzen complained his tyres had suffered from graining.

"I had a good lap, but it was impossible to achieve more today," said Frentzen. "My car suffered from understeer and some tyre graining, but we expected that."