Saturday March 30th, 2002

Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa is hoping to finish in the points in tomorrow's race after setting a promising 11th quickest time in Saturday's qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

De la Rosa and his Jaguar team have struggled so far this season due to the problems with their Cosworth-powered R3 chassis, but the Milton Keynes squad made progress today at Interlagos, with the Spaniard finishing just outside the top ten, his best qualifying position this year.

De la Rosa said he was much happier with the handling of his car, and was looking forward to a strong race to score more points for the team.

"Because of the productive work we've achieved over the course of the free practice and warm-up sessions, the car's handling characteristics have been transformed into something a lot more driveable," admitted de la Rosa.

"I don't think we've got anywhere near the full potential of this car and our Valencia test next week will, I hope, generate more advances. The good thing is that both cars are in with a points scoring chance tomorrow and we'll do everything in our power to go out there and consolidate our fourth place in the Constructors Championship."

Jaguar finished in fourth place at the season opening Australian Grand Prix thanks to Eddie Irvine, who today had to settle for 13th position.

Published at 19:28:33 GMT