Salo's time of 1.18.897 was set over all twelve of the laps allowed, but he was unhappy with the final result. "I am very disappointed with 18th position to be honest. However, we are where we belong in the field with this car. We need to make some aerodynamic improvements to the car soon or we will find it quite difficult to continually improve throughout the season," he told a team press release.

McNish managed a 1.19.025 and used up eleven of his twelve allotted laps. The Scot was also lucky that a brush with a tyre wall did not force him into the spare in the second half of the session.

"The car was much better balanced in qualifying trim and we were able to do a lap time quicker than I expected, unfortunately it is just not quick enough," he commented. "I hit a bump in the kerb on my second run putting me on the grass and I span, thankfully without incident. The car should be reasonable for the race.

Team manager Ange Pasquali added: "As expected Barcelona was not going to be easy because we have always struggled on this circuit. The car need lots of downforce, which we do not have. If you look at our progression from the second practice to qualifying, our team has done a good job, just not good enough for the top 15."