Villeneuve Pleased with BAR's Progress

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve was pleased with the progress of his British American Racing team after he was able to qualify in the top ten ahead of Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Villeneuve, who equalled BAR's best result at the German Grand Prix when he finished in third place, posted the tenth quickest time of the day with the Honda-powered car. The Canadian said he was expecting to be closer to the top in tomorrow's race and was happy with his progress during the weekend.

"After the session this morning and during qualifying we kept improving and made some big progress," Villeneuve said. "Yesterday was a tough day so we changed direction this morning and got closer and closer.

"We're still not where we wanted to be but we expect to be better off in the race tomorrow. It's going to be hot which makes it very physical but suits our car."

Teammate Olivier Panis was not so happy after qualifying right behind Villeneuve in eleventh place. The French driver, who spun off during the session due to a problem with his traction control system, was disappointed for his team.

"We worked very well this weekend but I'm not happy with the qualifying session today, admitted the Frenchman. "We had really improved the car throughout yesterday and this morning and I was very happy with the way things were going.

"When I did go out the traction control was not working so I spun and couldn't do anything about it. I'm disappointed myself but also for the team because everybody has worked hard and made some real progress."