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2005 European Formula 1 Grand Prix
What the teams and drivers said - Saturday

Team and Driver Quotes following Saturday Qualifying

(selected team quotes, for a full team and driver preview click on the team name)

Williams BMW ( Nick Heidfeld - 1st, Mark Webber - 3rd )

Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1):
We obviously have had a good qualifying session and both drivers and the team have recovered well from yesterday. It's a credit to the engineers to get the right set-up, tyre choice and strategy with not much information. We are confident of a strong showing in the race and have no issues on reliability and the brake and engine cooling is under control. Now we are looking forward to a strong race tomorrow.

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

McLaren Mercedes ( Kimi Raikkonen - 2nd, Juan Pablo Montoya - 5th )

RON DENNIS
"We are of course delighted to be on the front row and feel that our speed off the line coupled with our strategy should give Kimi every opportunity to have a strong race. Juan Pablo's fifth place position puts him on the clean side of the grid giving him a small but important advantage over the cars to the right of him. Whilst his lap was not perfect his race pace will be strong. The whole team looks forward to another sunny day at the Nürburgring."

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Toyota ( Jarno Trulli - 4th, Ralf Schumacher - 8th )

Dieter Gass - Chief Race Engineer
"I think we can be very pleased with the qualifying today. Jarno did another very good lap and Ralf is in a good position too. Ralf reported too much understeer, so overnight we'll look at the data to understand why. But other than that we had no problems. I think we have made the proper tyre choice for the race. That means we can look forward to tomorrow afternoon. We are confident about our race strategy so we'll see how it pans out. Hopefully we can bring a good result home for all the supporters who will be here to cheer us on."

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Renault ( Fernando Alonso - 6th, Giancarlo Fisichella - 9th )

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
"We are in lower positions than we had expected on the grid, and it is probable that this ties in with some differences in our strategy relative to a number of our competitors. We feel that the R25 will be strong right through the race, though, and therefore should probably not be too disappointed with our qualifying positions. I think a podium finish is well within our reach tomorrow."

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Ferrari ( Rubens Barrichello - 7th, Michael Schumacher - 10th )

Jean Todt: “Once again in this session, we had to tackle the usual problem that has been with us for a while now, that’s to say the fact we are not totally competitive over the single lap. Looking at the session overall, there is still the unknown factor of how much fuel the others had on board, given that we have gone back to the old qualifying format we saw last year. We are sure we will be more competitive in the race and now we have to see what strategies the teams have adopted and the answer will come tomorrow afternoon. What is certain is that, as usual, we will do our utmost to get the best possible result with both cars.”

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Sauber ( Felipe Massa - 11th, Jacques Villeneuve - 15th )

Willy Rampf (Technical Director):
"After a difficult time this morning we made good progress with both cars for qualifying. Felipe achieved our target position for him, while Jacques' 15th place reflects his fuel load. Overall we are satisfied, especially as we are ahead of our prime opposition."

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Red Bull ( David Coulthard - 12th, Vitantonio Liuzzi - 14th )

Christian Horner, Sporting Director:
“David had the handicap of running early in the session, but he built time through the lap and had an excellent last sector, which put him in front of both BAR cars. He’ll start from a credible 12th position tomorrow. Tonio had the benefit of running slightly later but, unfortunately, he made a small mistake when he ran a little deep into the chicane and lost his time advantage. However, to finish one tenth of a second behind David is very respectable and it’ll be interesting to see how things pan out tomorrow with the teams’ different strategies.”

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

BAR Honda ( Jenson Button - 13th , Takuma Sato - 16th )

GIL DE FERRAN, SPORTING DIRECTOR
"We had good morning practice sessions, during which we were able to improve both cars from yesterday. Being first and second to qualify unfortunately hurt us more than we were predicting, with both cars suffering from excessive understeer due to the change in track conditions. Even though we are starting further back than we would have liked, we are still confident about our race pace and very much looking forward to tomorrow."

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Jordan ( Tiago Monteiro - 17th, Narain Karthikeyan - 19th )

TREVOR CARLIN, SPORTING DIRECTOR
“It was a mixed qualifying for us today. Tiago Monteiro did a superb job and qualified the car in 17th position. His lap was very clean and probably his best in qualifying this season so far. Narain’s lap was a bit scrappy. He had to go out very early which may have hampered him a little bit. However I am sure he will progress through the race.”

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Minardi ( Patrick Friesacher - 18th, Christijan Albers - 20 )

PAUL STODDART, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth

“Once again, we feel encouraged by today’s times, especially considering the fuel loads in both cars for tomorrow’s race. Indeed, all weekend, we have been exchanging lap times with our nearest rival, Jordan, and are pleasingly close to Sauber and Red Bull Racing. If we are able to split the Jordans at a circuit we really didn’t expect would suit our new car, and bearing in mind there is still a huge amount of development potential in the PS05, it bodes very well for the upcoming North American races, as well for the rest of the season.

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Bridgestone

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport, said: “As the two morning sessions progressed, the track conditions and grip improved. Temperatures were quite a bit cooler this morning than this afternoon’s high temperatures and although the forecast is for hot weather again tomorrow, it is not quite as hot as Bahrain temperatures yet so our tyres should be able to cope. The teams spent their time this morning deciding on the best set up for the race tomorrow. Qualifying was not as strong as I had hoped for Ferrari but believe our tyres will perform well in the race. As we saw in Monaco last weekend it is possible to climb through the field and although Jordan and Minardi start from the back of the grid, I expect they too will be able to make the most of the characteristics of our tyres.”

Full Bridgestone Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Michelin

Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director
“This weekend’s altered qualifying system might have deprived us of an opportunity to see cars performing at their full potential – from a technical perspective, it is always interesting to see the outcome of low-fuel runs – but it is clear once again that several Michelin partners have a strong chance of victory. There remains an element of surprise, however, because fuel strategies won’t become apparent until tomorrow.
“As yesterday’s results suggested, our ‘prime’ and ‘option’ tyres are well suited to the Nürburgring and both will be used in the race.”

Full Michelin Qualifying Report  Back to Top

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