Villeneuve 'Mystified' by Lack of Pace

The former World Champion, fresh from scoring his first points of the season at Imola a fortnight ago, was confident following yesterday's practice sessions.

His confidence, however, did not translate into a strong result today, the Canadian finishing down in 14th position nearly two seconds off the pace.

"The balance of the car was not too bad this afternoon, so really I expected to be faster," said the Canadian. "Sometimes this season it's been a problem for me getting the best out of the tyres over a single lap, but the gap was quite big today.

"The car felt okay but that grip situation seemed to be a little bit extreme here, so I'm mystified."

Villeneuve was again outqualified by his teammate Felipe Massa, who posted the 11th fastest time and was optimistic ahead of tomorrow's final session.

"I had a good lap and the balance was okay, a bit of understeer here and some oversteer there, probably because of the wind, but nothing too bad," said Massa. "With a similar performance in tomorrow's final qualifying I think we can do a good job in the race."