Frustrated Rahal hits out at team

The American held the 11th position - the final grid slot allocated on Pole Day - for much of the afternoon, but was bumped out of the field when Hideki Mutoh improved near the end of the day.

Although Rahal then lined up for a second qualifying attempt, the team felt he was too far down the queue to make it out before the end of the session. But as other drivers who had lined up ahead made the same decision, Rahal reckoned he could have qualified again after all, only to find that the team were not ready to go out.

"It's a shame. I really would have liked to be in today," he said. "I was ready to go because I thought we had new tyres on the thing. I was excited to go out, and (Tomas) Scheckter lowered the bump speed so much that I think we could have made it.

"When I pulled up, I said, 'Guys, we need to have tyres ready just in case.' Didn't happen. They said there would be no way to get down (to the front of the line), and then everyone else was like, 'We're pulling, we're pulling' so I started to get ready and go.

"They should have told me before I got my helmet on. They waited until I got ready and they were like, 'Oh well by the way, we don't have tyres.' They said they didn't think we were going to make it, so we didn't bring tyres, and that is my point. You need to be prepared.

"I see everyone pulling (out) and I'm thinking, 'Oh, man, I'm next!' I'm jumping in the car, and they tell me they don't have tyres so we're not going to run.

"It makes me mad because I really feel like we could have made it. It's like shooting yourself in the foot. You need to be prepared for any situation even if it doesn't look realistic that it can happen. You need to be there. You need to have your stuff there and you need to be ready to go, and we weren't.

"That's just something I don't understand. These guys are always prepared for any situation, and I just do not understand why in this type of situation, you wouldn't just be prepared just in case."

Rahal remains confident he will qualify in Sunday's second session, which sets the grid for positions 12 to 22.

"Hopefully we can get in tomorrow," he said. "I think we can. We were so close today - that's what's disappointing about it."

His teammate Justin Wilson also failed to make the grid on day one, but said he never expected to challenge for the top 11.

"Just for a minute I thought me might have a chance, but we'll come back and give it another go tomorrow providing the weather is good," Wilson said.

"I calmed myself down a little bit saying, 'Today's not realistic to qualify in the top 11; we're too far behind some of these guys that have been doing it for years.' So we have to keep ourselves in check and keep making positive progress.

"Tomorrow will be our day when we're going for 12 to 22. I think it's more realistic to get in that 12-15 space."