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Team and Driver Quotes following Saturday Qualifying
(selected
team quotes, for a full team and driver preview click on the team name) Renault ( Giancarlo Fisichella
- 1st, Fernando Alonso - 14th ) Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
“We had good and bad luck this
afternoon: without a doubt, Giancarlo was on track in the best conditions in the session, while Fernando arguably suffered the
worst. Nevertheless, the two drivers managed the conditions well and gave strong performances.
“We now look ahead to second
qualifying and the race. We are expecting the rain to continue intermittently until the early hours of Sunday morning, which means
there are chances that the circuit will still be damp for second qualifying – although we think it is unlikely to rain during that
session. But it is certainly fair to say that the abnormally large gaps after first qualifying may lead to some interesting choices
on strategy.” Full Team
and Driver Qualifying Report Back to Top Toyota ( Jarno Trulli -
2nd, Ralf Schumacher - 17th ) Mike Gascoyne – Technical Director Chassis
"A very eventful qualifying
session that turned out to have mixed fortunes for us. Jarno got nearly the best of the track conditions, but I still think his lap
was exceptional to be P2 with a significant time advantage over the drivers who went out for their runs at around the same time.
That time gain will prove to be hugely beneficial for final qualifying in the morning. Unfortunately, the rain towards the end of
the session left Ralf with some of the worst conditions and that made his job very difficult. We have to see what conditions we will
have tomorrow but for Jarno it looks highly promising indeed and we need to look to get the car on the front row tomorrow." Full Team
and Driver Qualifying Report Back to Top Williams
BMW ( Mark Webber - 3rd, Nick Heidfeld - 7th ) Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1):
Obviously it
was an interesting day with the weather. Both our cars ran before the track was at its driest so we took intermediate tyres for both
of them. With today's result we are in a good position for tomorrow's second qualifying. The reliability of our cars is good and we
are looking forward to consolidate our position for tomorrow's race. Full Team
and Driver Qualifying Report Back to Top Sauber ( Jacques Villeneuve -
4th, Felipe Massa - 20th ) Peter Sauber (Team Principal):
"The first of the new-style qualifying sessions
brought us the sort of weather challenge we have rarely encountered before. Jacques had to make a difficult choice on tyres and was
the first to go for grooves, and he got the maximum out of the car. Felipe had an easier choice given the conditions, but then his
run was ruined by the sudden downpour, so he had no chance." Full Team
and Driver Qualifying Report Back to Top Red Bull ( Christian Klien -
5th, David Coulthard - 6th ) Christian Horner, Sporting Director:
“We were lucky with the weather conditions,
which dictated the outcome of this session. However, having both cars in the top ten is a great start to the qualifying session. ” Full Team
and Driver Qualifying Report Back to Top BAR Honda (
Jenson Button - 8th, Takuma Sato - 19th ) Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director
"In variable track
conditions, this afternoon's qualifying was always going to be quite a lottery. With the track starting damp, Jenson's early
position in the qualifying order put him at quite a disadvantage. Despite a good lap on wet tyres it dried very quickly and he was
pushed down to eighth position. Just as the circuit had dried enough for several runners to use dry tyres, a heavy rain shower
interrupted the running and no-one else was able to improve, fortunately leaving Jenson in a reasonable position for tomorrow's
qualifying. However given the large time gaps between the positions, the new aggregate qualifying format it is unlikely to lead to
substantial changes for tomorrow's race. Although today's running was difficult due to the mixed weather conditions and some car
problems, we were fairly happy with our pace at the end of the morning and will now focus on our strategy for tomorrow's race.
"Takuma
then followed out shortly after the start of the heavy rain on intermediate tyres, but with the car aquaplaning right from the pit
exit he crashed at turn eight on his out lap. We will have to see from the level of damage whether we will repair his race car in
time for tomorrow or use the T-car." Full Team
and Driver Qualifying Report Back to Top Jordan
( Narain Karthikeyan - 9th, Tiago Monteiro - 13th ) Trevor
Carlin, Sporting Director
“It was quite an interesting session with mixed conditions. We started out in heavy rain which
obviously put us behind a little bit as the track dried, but then with the downfall, we had a bit of luck. It is a great start. It
is nice to be 9th even though we would be very lucky to finish there tomorrow.” Full Team
and Driver Qualifying Report Back to Top McLaren Mercedes ( Kimi Raikkonen -
10th, Juan Pablo Montoya - 11th ) Ron Dennis
"Obviously it's always
disappointing when things out of your control influence the outcome of a qualifying session, particularly as we have been looking
competitive so far this weekend. However we still have tomorrow's final qualifying session and race to look forward to where
hopefully the track conditions will remain constant." Full Team
and Driver Qualifying Report Back to Top Ferrari ( Rubens Barrichello -
12th, Michael Schumacher - 18th, ) Jean Todt:
“This first qualifying session was turned into a lottery because
of the changing weather conditions. On Michael’s car we only just managed to switch from dry to rain tyres, but with the downpour
that hit the track as he was on his quick lap, just doing a time was an achievement. Rubens went out on the extreme wet tyres and
effected a damage limitation drive. Although there is a second session tomorrow, it is clear that today’s result compromises our
chances for the rest of the weekend. All in all, the new rule has introduced a further element of uncertainty and today that
situation has been immediately confirmed. This state of affairs was down to chance and we can only accept the situation, even though
obviously, we are not happy about it.” Full Team
and Driver Qualifying Report Back to Top Minardi
( Christijan Albers - 15th, Patrick Friesacher - 16th ) Paul Stoddart, Team Principal, Minardi
Cosworth “After a traumatic week spent dealing with matters that could, and should, have been sorted out well before the
Melbourne race, it was a great relief for Minardi to open its 2005 campaign and be able to focus on the racing. After a mammoth
overnight effort, the team’s mechanics were able to modify two PS04B chassis to 2005-compliant specification. It really does show
the grit, determination and professionalism of the team. Both Christijan and Patrick are fulfilling their dreams of becoming Formula
One drivers, and acquitted themselves brilliantly under the circumstances. This is particularly relevant when one considers that
neither of them had driven the car in this specification before today, let alone in the wet. I cannot praise them highly enough for
their support and courage over the last few days. Both cars ran faultlessly, and all things considered, I am truly proud of the
drivers, and of the whole team, for what has been nothing less than a sterling effort." Full Team
and Driver Qualifying Report Back to Top Bridgestone Hisao
Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport, said: “Well, we managed to get plenty of good running on both our wet
and extreme wet tyres this morning in the practice sessions and were pleased with the times especially with the extreme tyre.
Ferrari’s drivers were first and second in the first session and Jordan’s Karthikeyan posted the fourth fastest time which was
very impressive for a rookie and encouraged us about our extreme wet tyre’s performance. In the second practice session, it
started wet before drying up but the dry tyres weren’t used for long enough to get any real data. Qualifying, however, was very
unfortunate! All our runners ran in heavy wet conditions and five of them used extreme tyres. Michael, however, was on normal wets
after a quick switch from drys and he was very unlucky to find that it started raining heavily. So for him, the priority was to get
the car back. Rubens, however, made a good job of running on the extreme weather tyre when it was still raining. An interesting day
and now we look forward to tomorrow’s second qualifying session and race.” Full
Bridgestone Qualifying Report Back to Top Michelin Pierre
Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director
“That was an interesting session – although luck obviously played its part, with
conditions fluctuating between virtually dry and extremely wet. From a technical perspective, the most interesting comparison was
that between Kimi Räikkönen’s McLaren and Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari – they went out back to back in identical, wet
conditions and the times reflect the competitiveness of the Michelin/McLaren package.
“We gathered some interesting wet- and
dry-weather data during this morning’s free practice and afternoon’s qualifying. All Michelin tyres specifications dry and wet
were very competitive. We look forward to seeing some interesting comparisons in the race. If it stays dry, our Prime and Option
tyres will both be on the grid.” Full
Michelin Qualifying Report Back to Top
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