Yoong fails to qualify.

KL Minardi Asiatech driver Alex Yoong has failed to qualify for tomorrow's British Grand Prix.

The Malaysian's best time was a 1 minute 24.785 seconds, just 0.2 seconds short of the 107 per cent qualifying threshold.

The Minardi team appealed to the race stewards to allow him to race but they declared that there were 'no exceptional circumstances that would permit the Malaysian to take part'.

"I gave it my best shot today, but unfortunately, it wasn't good enough," said Yoong. "I'm obviously extremely disappointed to have missed making the grid for tomorrow's race, particularly by such a small margin."

"Silverstone is a tough circuit though, and with my relative lack of experience racing or testing here, it would have helped a lot if there had been the opportunity to run in the dry yesterday. There wasn't, however, and the car was also suffering from some rear instability under braking today, which didn't help matters. The biggest problem, though, was that we lost a lot of time in the quick corners, a factor that was due, at least in part, I believe, to the lack of power steering on the cars this weekend."

Yoong's team-mate, Mark Webber meanwhile did make the cut, posting a best time of 1 mintue 22.281 seconds, good enough for 20th position on tomorrow's grid.

"For me, this has been a positive day," noted Webber. "The guys did a really good job with the car and made absolutely the right decisions with the tyres and set-up. I really enjoyed today's qualifying session, and that second run in particular I felt was very good. I'm sorry for Alex, though - to have missed out by such a small margin today is tough, but I'm sure he'll bounce back for the next race."

"Overall, this has been a disappointing qualifying session for the Minardi team," concluded Team Principal, Paul Stoddart. "Mark put in another solid performance and will line up 20th on the grid for tomorrow's race."

"Unfortunately, despite a valiant effort, Alex's lack of experience of the tough Silverstone circuit meant he missed the 107 per cent qualifying threshold, albeit by the slimmest of margins. I am totally confident that if he had been able to run in dry conditions during yesterday's practice sessions, he would easily have made the field today. Unfortunately, though, it was not to be, and now all we can do is focus on our preparations for tomorrow's British Grand Prix."