Toyota improves, but still struggling

Both Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta struggled badly in yesterday's qualifying session, setting the 15th and 19th fastest times respectively. Although both improved their performance today, Panis to 11th and da Matta to 13th, neither driver is completely happy with the handling of the TF103.

"We have had a difficult weekend and the car simply hasn't been right for this track," said Panis. "I think I did a good job in qualifying today and it was a respectable lap given the circumstances," he said. "Obviously we are not quick enough but the team has worked well to improve the car little by little over the weekend, and I think we are on a good strategy for tomorrow."

Da Matta looked to have turned a corner in his F1 career after finishing sixth in the Spanish Grand Prix, but this weekend has so far proved something of a reality check. "I am quite happy with my qualifying lap and my overall performance," he said. "The track appeared to be a little slower than this morning, but still the time is not good and it has been a tough weekend so far.

"We have been struggling ever since the first practice session yesterday. We have to dig a little deeper to find the answers to why our car is not going well this weekend. We'll keep working on it."