Trulli laments suspension problem

Last year's pole-setter was hit by a suspension problem during the first 10-minute session, a problem which was made worse later when he was called in for weighing.

That left Trulli's mechanics without enough time to fix the problem, meaning he was unable to complete another lap.

The Italian, who had scored his first points of the season in Canada last weekend, will start the race from 20th position.

"Unfortunately that was a short session for me today because we suffered a problem with our rear suspension on my first flying lap," said Trulli. "We were on old tyres and the problem did not affect my laptime too much but it would have been too risky to go out again.

"I had to visit the weighbridge before the team could start changing the rear central element and we just didn't have enough time to complete the change before the end of session one. By then I was outside the top 16 so that was the end of my afternoon.

"It is a particular pity because both yesterday and this morning the car felt strong and we were in good shape to challenge in qualifying. Now we are in the worst possible place for tomorrow's race but we will try our best to make up ground."

Teammate Ralf Schumacher enjoyed a better day, the German qualifying in eighth position.

"In general it was a pain-free qualifying session for me," said Schumacher. "We had a very good car in the first two sessions today and we were able to push well without problems. In session three we seemed to struggle a bit more with grip and balance. That made it hard to get the best out of the car on a fast lap.

"As a result I wasn't happy with my last run and I think I could have done slightly better. But we have still made it to P8 which is an achievement and a reasonable place to start tomorrow. Hopefully we can bring a good result home in the race."