Villeneuve Expecting Tough Race

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve is expecting a tough race tomorrow following final qualifying for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours.

"I'm quite pleased with the lap because it was better than I had anticipated," said the Canadian after posting the 12th fastest time. "I had good balance and everything worked fine but we got as much grip as we could from the tyres and 12th is where we are today.

"There were a couple of tenths to be had maybe, because it was a good lap but not a crazy lap, but nothing that would have put us any further up the grid. It's going to be another tough race tomorrow."

Both Villeneuve and teammate Jenson Button had their running cut short after their cars were impounded on Friday due to a legal battle. Both drivers missed the free practice session, and Button was satisfied with his performance given the circumstances.

"We haven't really had any running time in which to set the car up properly, so the lap was OK considering," said the British driver. "Most of the work I have done has been for the race so 14th was the best I could hope for in qualifying.

"It's never a good thing to be one of the first on track in qualifying, then on my lap I got a bit too much understeer in the first of the three new corners and lost a couple of tenths there, which is quite disappointing."