Zonta admits to costly error

In Toyota's second high-speed crash of the weekend after Ryan Briscoe's smash in practice on Friday, Zonta lost control at the 120mph Pouhon bend and spun into the gravel trap. While he only hit the barrier lightly the Brazilian caused damage to his car which mechanics had just minutes to fix before he had to go out for final qualifying.

"My grid position was affected a lot by the mistake I made in the first qualifying session," he said. "There was not much grip on the track due to the large amount of rain that had fallen all morning. I ran over one of the white lines around the track, but it was very slippery and I was sent into the gravel.

"The team did an incredible job trying to repair the car for the second qualifying session, but some of the aero parts were damaged, which unbalanced the car a lot for my second run. I am very sorry for the team, but I hope our strategy will work to our advantage and enable me to work my way up through the field."

Meanwhile, team-mate Olivier Panis slotted his Toyota into ninth place after taking advantage of the slightly easier conditions on track during his qualifying run.

" I did a very good lap running with full wet tyres and the team managed everything well in difficult conditions," the Frenchman said. "We have opted to run a different tyre compound compared to other Michelin runners this weekend, which worked well in yesterday's dry practice sessions. To be ninth on the grid with the strategy we have opted for and the tyres we have selected, I am very confident that we can have a strong race tomorrow."