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2005 Monaco 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)

McLaren Mercedes ( Kimi Raikkonen - 1st, Juan Pablo Montoya - 5th )

Ron Dennis
"An outstanding lap from Kimi providing him with a significant time advantage going into tomorrow's second qualifying. The circuit conditions following Ralf Schumacher's accident were not perfect which of course makes Kimi's lap even more impressive. Juan Pablo's solid fifth placed performance puts him in a position where an improvement on the grid is more than possible."

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Renault ( Fernando Alonso - 2nd, Giancarlo Fisichella - 4th )

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
"Giancarlo lost a significant amount of time at the end of his lap with some unexpected understeer, Fernando's lap seemed clean, but the times indicate that we still need a little more pace. We are in a good position to get our cars on, or close to, the front row tomorrow morning, which is a key factor here in Monaco. Looking ahead to the race, we will be hoping to see both drivers on the podium at the chequered flag."

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Williams BMW ( Mark Webber - 3rd, Nick Heidfeld - 6th )

Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): With both cars in the top six, it was a good first qualifying session for us. As normal, tomorrow's session is the important one. The cars are working well around here and we are confident that we have made the right decisions on the set-up for the race. The engine cooling and brake temperatures seem to be fine as on Sunday we are expecting similar ambient temperatures as today.

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Toyota ( Jarno Trulli - 7th, Ralf Schumacher - 18th - No Time )

Dieter Gass - Chief Race Engineer
"This was a very disappointing result. Ralf went off after he touched the inside barrier at Tabac. Then because he lost some oil it obviously resulted in a heavy penalty for Jarno as well. He was the next car out and he didn't have a clean track for his lap, and that's why he lost time on the leading cars. So all in all it was the maximum possible disadvantage for us. That is a pity because both drivers were happy with their cars and hopeful of a good result this afternoon. Now it makes life difficult for us tomorrow, especially for Ralf."

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Red Bull ( David Coulthard - 8th, Vitantonio Liuzzi - 13th )

Christian Horner, Sporting Director: “David did an excellent lap considering the car had to be rebuilt after this morning’s accident and his time gives us a good position to work from in tomorrow’s qualifying session. Following his early retirement in Barcelona, Tonio was first on the track when the circuit was still quite dirty. However, despite a scary moment through Casino Square, he held on well and got a solid time.”

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Sauber ( Jacques Villeneuve - 9th, Felipe Massa - 12th )

Peter Sauber (Team Principal): "Our goal is always to qualify in the top 10, but we knew that would be very difficult here. I am very happy that Jacques is ninth so far, but unfortunately Felipe was not able to deliver an optimal lap this time. Now we have a new challenge tomorrow, to retain our strong grid positions while choosing the right strategy for what is always a tough race."

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Ferrari ( Rubens Barrichello - 10th, Michael Schumacher - 11th)

Jean Todt: “There is not much to say: it was a very disappointing qualifying. We are a very long way off the quickest times, mainly due to a lack of grip. In this modern era of Formula 1, overtaking is already difficult enough, but on this track it is virtually impossible, which means that being down towards the back of the grid is a considerable handicap for the race. Obviously, anything can happen and we know that, over a race distance, our package is more competitive than on the single lap. However, tomorrow we face an uphill struggle, but we will not throw in the towel and will do all we can to get the most out of this situation.”

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Minardi ( Patrick Friesacher - 14th, Christijan Albers - 15th )

Paul Stoddart Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth
“It is really pleasing to see the potential of the new car is beginning to show. To be consistently ahead of our nearest rival so far this weekend means we are well on the way to achieving our goals. Both drivers have given 100 per cent around this very demanding circuit, and my thanks go to the whole team, which has worked relentlessly day and night. The continuing progress is down to the efforts of all concerned. Let’s now hope for an equally productive second qualifying session, and an interesting race tomorrow.”

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Jordan ( Tiago Monteiro - 16th, Narain Karthikeyan - 17th )

Trevor Carlin, Sporting Director
“It was a tough qualifying today for both our drivers on this difficult Monaco circuit. We have not performed quite as well as we had expected but this race is all about getting to the end and with our good reliability record this year I hope we can get a decent finish out of it. ”

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Bridgestone

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport: “It does seem that between this morning’s practice sessions and the qualifying session, the Ferrari drivers both lost grip so our engineering staff will be studying the reasons for this carefully. On the other hand, our tyres have shown consistent performance and once the track has rubbered in a bit more tomorrow, the grip should pick up. I’m hoping for a competitive race.”

Full Bridgestone Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Michelin

Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director “We have three different Michelin chassis in the top three positions – but there’s an extra twist this time because they are all running on slightly different types of tyre. For Monaco we offered our partners two ‘prime’ compounds and one ‘option’. Today’s result underlines that all three are working exceptionally well – and that is a source of immense satisfaction.”
“Kimi Räikkönen’s time today was a few tenths faster than last season’s Michelin pole lap, set by Jarno Trulli’s Renault with a significant amount of fuel on board. If you compare like with like, by making the necessary weight adjustments, Kimi’s time would be the slower of the two – but it was still an extraordinary lap that highlights how well Michelin has responded to the task of making harder-compound F1 tyres that provide speed as well as aimed to race distance, compare to a third of the race distance last year.”

Full Michelin Qualifying Report  Back to Top

BAR Honda ( Jenson Button , Takuma Sato )

Team banned from event ... more

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