Kubica: We're off the pace

Fresh from giving the BMW Sauber team its first ever F1 victory in Canada two weeks ago, Robert Kubica had a rude awakening in qualifying for the French Grand Prix on Saturday.

Kubica had to really battle to make it through Q1 and Q2 and in the end his best lap in Q3 was a 1 minute 17.037 seconds, more than half a second off the pace of Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen and three tenths off Lewis Hamilton, who was 'best of the rest' in third. Kubica though will move up to sixth as a result of Hamilton's pit lane gaff in Montreal.

"It looks like we are having a difficult weekend," Kubica conceded. "After yesterday's free practice sessions I was expecting us to struggle. The balance of the car is not how I want it to be and my car has a poor overall grip.

"The gap ...