05 March: Australian Grand Prix - Saturday Qualifying
Report - Ferrari
Qualifying session Rubens Barrichello: 12th 1.45.481 3 laps chassis 240 Michael Schumacher:
18th 1.57.931 3 laps chassis 241 Temperatures: air 14/13° C, track 18/19° C
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.”
Rubens Barrichello: “It was a tough day
as it was difficult just to keep the car on the track. Myself and Michael faced the same problems, Michael even more than me. It
will be impossible to recover all the lap time we have lost today in tomorrow’s session. But we are in good shape. I think the new
weekend format means that qualifying is less important in terms of its effect on the race and so I am still optimistic about our
chances of getting a good result.”
Michael Schumacher: “All I can say about today is that we were unlucky. The
weather has so often played in my favour that I can accept it was not the case this time. I had seen the rain clouds approaching and
I hoped they would stay away a bit longer, but it didn’t happen and we only just had enough time to fit the normal rain tyres,
when extreme wets would have been a better choice. Obviously this result will impact greatly on the race. All the same we will try
and bring home some points or even something better. I don’t think a podium is out of the question, but it will be very difficult.
Who knows what the weather will bring tomorrow! The race is long and all we can do is try our best to remedy this situation.”
Ross
Brawn: “The conditions absolutely worked against us and so there was nothing more we could have done. Given that the rain
arrived just as Michael was about to go out, I think the guys did a great job to get the rain tyres on the car in time to send him
out. We did not expect the rain to get so heavy so quickly. It takes around 2 minutes to do an “out” lap, and in that short time
the track became extremely wet.”
