Q: Kimi, the margin yesterday after qualifying was almost half a second but it came down to one tenth today, but you are still on the pole.
Kimi RAIKKONEN: I took it quite easy in the first part especially and then I slid a bit wide on the last corner but I think we are on a strong position right now.

Q: Were you aware of Fernando’s time when you went out and how quick he had been?
KR: No, I didn’t know at all. I just heard when I went over the line to the first corner. I saw it on the big screen.

Q: What are your thoughts going into the race?
KR: I think we are definitely in the best position we could be and like I said we don’t know how much fuel the other cars have but I think we will have a very good race. The car was very good this morning, so I am very happy and I am looking forward to the race.

Q: Fernando, a great lap, quickest lap of the day, almost made it.
Fernando ALONSO: Yeah, I didn’t know it was so close at the end. When I did the lap I knew that it was a good lap, the car felt very, very good today, with the fuel, and it has felt like it all weekend. I think yesterday’s time was a bit surprising and also the accident (of Ralf Schumacher) did not help my confidence in my car, but now we are in a very strong position. It is not enough for pole but it is enough for the front row and from there we have to think of the race and the strategy and the start and see what we can do.

Q: Do you expect a lot of differences in strategy?
FA: I don’t know. We are quite happy with ours. We don’t know what the others are doing but I have the confidence, I think, in the race pace and for the race point of view I think we are looking much better than for one timed lap, so this is why we are confident for this afternoon.

Q: Mark, I guess Giancarlo Fisichella was a threat in the other Renault in your mind, but you actually increased the advantage.
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, it was a little bit of a surprise. I thought Giancarlo’s lap wasn’t superb yesterday, I think he made a mistake in the last sector, so we were expecting him to be a bit stronger today. I thought he would be a bit of a threat today but it is fantastic to get third place for the whole team. If we can get away well from there we are pretty happy with our strategy. Obviously, it is a long afternoon here, it is probably the hardest race of the year on rear tyres, so we will try to make sure that is all okay, but generally we are very happy with the car with fuel as well.

Q: Compared to the other races this year, how do you feel heading into Monaco, in terms of car performance?
MW: I think this is probably our best weekend so far, definitely in the race. Qualifying hasn’t been a huge issue for us and we have been qualifying reasonably well, obviously not the ultimate pace but we have been going okay. The race pace here is probably not at the same level as these guys but better than we have had in the past, so I am quite confident actually.

2005 Monaco Grand Prix - Main Page