Saturday March 2nd, 2002

Jordan's Takuma Sato endured a tough baptism in his first Formula One qualifying session after failing to set a time within the 107 per cent of Rubens Barrichello's pole position.

Sato, who is making his Grand Prix debut this season with the Jordan squad after winning the British Formula Three title in 2001, suffered a mechanical problem in his first lap of today's qualifying and was forced to use teammate Giancarlo Fisichella's car late in the session.

But a heavy rain in the second part of the one-hour session made it impossible for the 25-year old to set a competitive time, finishing more than 25 seconds behind Barrichello's time.

"Today was a tough day," said Sato, who despite his time will race on Sunday starting from last place on the grid. "I did my best and what happened was nobody's fault. Mechanical problems do happen. It was very difficult to drive Giancarlo's car in the wet.

"It was his seating position and, for example, I had no heel rest so I was pushing the pedals with my feet in the air. Also the car had a dry set-up."

Sato also had a torrid practice this morning after crashing heavily during the first session, causing serious damage to his Jordan. Teammate Fisichella qualified in a promising 8th position.

Published at 05:10:24 GMT