Yoong

SILVERSTONE, England -- Malaysian driver Alex Yoong will miss Sunday's British Formula One Grand Prix after failing to qualify his Minardi for the second time in 10 races.

Yoong lapped the Silverstone circuit, one of the most familiar to drivers who test extensively there, in one minute 24.785 seconds.

The official qualifying cutoff time was 1:24.527 and stewards rejected a Minardi request to allow Yoong to compete in the race, saying there were no exceptional circumstances.

Minardi are based in Britain and Italy and the Malaysian, who brings important sponsorship to the financially struggling team, has now failed to qualify for races in both countries.

He failed to set a valid time at Imola in April.

Yoong's Australian teammate Mark Webber was more than two seconds quicker, qualifying 20th out of 21. Williams' pole-winning driver Juan Pablo Montoya of Colombia was nearly six seconds faster than the Malaysian.

Jaguar's nightmare
Jaguar struggled to qualify both their cars after hoping for big improvements from aerodynamic modifications.

Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa qualified last with only four seconds to spare after being sidelined in the Ford-owned team's garage for much of the hour-long session with an engine problem.

Briton Eddie Irvine, whose Formula One future could hang on Sunday's race and how he feels about the revised R3 car, qualified a mere 19th.

Jaguar had been pinning their hopes on the new aerodynamics showing a major improvement, with Irvine confidently hoping that the team would show up at Silverstone and surprise everybody.

The Northern Irishman, 37 in November, is out of contract at the end of the season and he has said he is not prepared to 'tool around' at the rear of the grid next season.

He has made it clear that he will want to stay if he is offered a good car, but not otherwise.

"Of course, we would have liked to qualify higher today but don't forget the fact that I have hardly tested this new package," he said in a team media sheet.

"It will take time for us to understand and exploit the new development."

De la Rosa was sidelined by a coolant leak at the entry point to the car's radiator. He then had an electrical misfire, possibly caused by the leak, and had to qualify in a spare car set up for Irvine.

"We were right up against the clock but the team did a good job to get Pedro out in the nick of time," said Jaguar principal Niki Lauda.