Saturday October 12th, 2002

Australian Mark Webber is hoping a tyre gamble in today's qualifying will pay off at the Japanese Grand Prix tomorrow.

Minardi driver Webber opted for Michelin's prime tyre compound, which offers less grip but a greater durability, and the rookie struggled in today's session, finishing in 19th position nearly a whole second behind the car in front of him, the Toyota of Allan McNish.

Webber, however, hopes his tyre choice will help him enjoy a stronger race tomorrow.

"That last flying lap was not a pretty one, but we did the best with the amount of grip we had available," said Webber. "The last run was still quite low grip for us. In picking the prime tyre, which Michelin recommends for the race tomorrow, we hope that the sacrifice in qualifying today will have been worth it.

"We ran as fast as we could this afternoon, and now we'll see how tomorrow unfolds."

Malaysian Alex Yoong, probably competing in his final Grand Prix, posted the slowest time of the session, but less than four tenths of a second behind his highly rated teammate.

"The car was a lot better this afternoon than it was this morning, and was really enjoyable to drive," said Yoong. "I was also pleased with the time. The chassis had a little understeer through the quick corners on the last two runs, and I could probably have found a bit more in terms of lap time as a result."

Published at 09:00:53 GMT