05 March: Australian Grand Prix - Saturday Qualifying Report - Sauber
Weather: showers with sunny breaks, cold.
Drivers (Chassis) Villeneuve (C24-03) 1:36.984s, 4th Massa (C24-02) no
time, 20th Spare car (C24-01)
Team SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Felipe Massa achieved fourth and 20th
positions respectively after this afternoon's first qualifying session, so tomorrow they will start final qualifying first and 17th
in the running order.
Jacques Villeneuve: "The weather made things pretty difficult for us today. When it was
my turn it was a very tough decision which Michelin tyre to go for. It was a choice between intermediates and dries, so we went for
the latter. As you saw, it was slippery on them during my out lap but I was fortunate not to hit anything when I spun. After that I
wasn't too aggressive on my qualifying lap. It was pretty good, so in the end I guess it was our lucky day."
Felipe
Massa: "There's not much to say. It was a clear decision to go for dry tyres by the time my turn came about, but it
began to pour with rain literally as I came past the pits on my quick lap. It was very slippery, and of course there was no point to
finish the lap. I just hope I am luckier in the race."
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."
