LEADING GRID POSITIONS 1 K Raikkonen 1:26.797 2 G Fisichella 1:27.039 3 F Alonso 1:27.050 4 JP Montoya 1:27.352 5 J Trulli 1:27.501 6 N Heidfeld 1:27.929 Qualifying as it happened

The tarmac on turn eight has become bumpy after practice and Button fears the intense pounding it will take under race conditions could cause trouble.

"It is getting bumpier definitely," he said. "Hopefully it's not going to get worse throughout the race.

"When there's 58 laps with 20 cars going round it's going to be pretty tough for the circuit."

The Briton was one of several drivers to fall foul of turn eight in qualifying on Saturday.

I think we can still score some good points but I don't think Renault or McLaren need to worry about us Jenson Button

The BAR-Honda driver was setting a good pace until he made a mistake, his car veering off course and eventually coming home in 13th.

"I think we can still score some good points but I don't think Renault or McLaren need to worry about us," he said. "Apart from them we can really challenge anyone."

Button was not the only driver to make a costly mistake.

Team-mate Takuma Sato and Sauber's Jacques Villeneuve also went off at turn eight while world champion Michael Schumacher suffered two corners later and finished well down the grid.

We were ready for a difficult qualifying session but the result was worse than we had expected Ferrari's Jean Todt

With Rubens Barrichello only managing 11th spot, Ferrari were quick to write off their chances of winning on Sunday.

"I think the most we can hope for is to get our cars home in the points," said team boss Jean Todt, who blamed a lack of grip for a poor show in qualifying.

"We were ready for a difficult qualifying session but the result was worse than we had expected."