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2005 San Marino 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, Alex Wurz - 8th )

Ron Dennis
"A great lap from Kimi which resulted in us having some margin over the provisional second row for tomorrow's qualifying. Alex put in a very professional performance coping well with the less than perfect conditions. Overall the entire team is moving forward, and a good result tomorrow is possible."

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Renault ( Fernando Alonso - 2nd, Giancarlo Fisichella - 15th )

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
"Fernando did an extremely good lap: he has not done a lot of running this weekend, and to be able to attack the circuit so well after a limited programme is a credit to him. Giancarlo experienced major oversteer in turn 15, which cost him a lot of time. With the times being so closely matched, he has paid a heavy penalty in terms of grid position, but we know he is capable of driving a strong race on this difficult circuit tomorrow afternoon."

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Ferrari ( Michael Schumacher - 3rd, Rubens Barrichello - 11th )

Jean Todt: “It was a very close first qualifying session with thirteen drivers separated by just over one second. Michael managed to get the most out of the car-engine-Bridgestone tyre package, while Rubens was not perfectly happy with the balance of his car and so was unable to set a better time. There is still a long way to go in this Grand Prix. We must make the most suitable choices for tomorrow’s second qualifying session, when we run with the fuel load with which we start the race. Then come the 62 laps of this the fourth round of the season, when reliability and consistency in terms of tyre performance will be key factors. Given what we have seen so far, we have cause to be optimistic.”

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Williams BMW ( Mark Webber - 4th , Nick Heidfeld - 9th )

Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1):
It was a reasonable first qualifying for us. There is not much difference between the top drivers' lap times so it will be tight tomorrow in second qualifying. The track temperatures on Sunday morning will play a big part. The FW27 is making good progress and handling well around the Imola circuit, especially over the curbs.

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BAR Honda ( Jenson Button - 5th, Takuma Sato - 10th )

Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director
"After very strong morning sessions, we had set our sights high for this afternoon's qualifying. However, we were also conscious that with early start times it was going to be difficult to get into the top positions. Both drivers had good qualifying laps and we are very pleased with the progress we have made generally since the last race. We now feel confident for tomorrow's second qualifying session and the race."

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Toyota ( Jarno Trulli - 1st, Ralf Schumacher - 4th )

Mike Gascoyne - Technical Director Chassis "It was an excellent lap from Jarno and it's great that Toyota is going into Sunday on top of the timesheets for the first time. Ralf was a bit disappointed because he was quick this morning and could have taken pole himself. But in the end he was very close, so we're happy with first and fourth. Barcelona is very much an aerodynamic circuit. We've been working very hard on our aero package and we had some updates for this race. It was a good job from everyone in the factory and now we've repaid them with provisional pole. We've been strong here all weekend, but we've still only done half the job. Now we have to look to try and convert that into a strong performance tomorrow. Rest assured we will be doing everything we can to get both cars onto the front row and to convert that into Toyota's first ever race win."

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Sauber ( Felipe Massa - 7th, Jacques Villeneuve - 13th )

Peter Sauber (Team Principal): "At the beginning of the season I said that the C24 was not where it should be but that it had a lot of potential. I'm glad that we could make our first significant step here in Imola, and I am confident that more will follow. "First of all, thanks to the team at Hinwil who are using our resources there to their optimum. And thanks to Felipe for an excellent lap. Jacques was also able to demonstrate the step he has taken this weekend, even though he was not 100 percent happy with his lap."

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Red Bull ( David Coulthard - 14th, Vitantonio Liuzzi - 16th )

Christian Horner, Sporting Director:
"14th and 16th - we would obviously liked to have been higher than this but with a creative strategy we can certainly move forward from where we are today. Tonio did a solid job on his Formula 1 debut as it is always a difficult job to go first on a dirty track after the Porsche Cup, but he drove maturely. David was slightly more unhappy with his lap, but as I said earlier we have a good strategy for tomorrow."

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Jordan ( Narain Karthikeyan - 17th, Tiago Monteiro - 18th )

Trevor Carlin, Sporting Director
“Today was a bit disappointing after yesterday’s sessions. We expected to be slightly closer to the pace. Tiago struggled to get heat into his tyres; so he is not very happy with his performance. We will have to work hard for the race set-up tomorrow and try to bring the car home again.”

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Minardi ( Christijan Albers - 19th, Patrick Friesacher - 20th )

Paul Stoddard, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth
“Despite finishing today’s first qualifying session in P19 and P20, all things considered, the Minardi Team has a lot to be proud of this weekend. The morning sessions were dogged by mechanical gremlins, which are to be expected when one considers this is the first serious running for the new car, but it is clear the Minardi PS05 chassis and Cosworth TJ2005 engine package shows significant potential, as evidenced by Christijan’ second-fastest speed through the circuit speed trap this afternoon.”

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Bridgestone

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport, said: “We had two very productive morning practice sessions today during which we were encouraged by the performance of the specifications here this weekend. Michael posted the fastest and fourth fastest times respectively in those two early sessions which was a good indicator for us and he confirmed this competitiveness with the third fastest time in the first qualifying session. Rubens is still working on his set up at the moment but we expect he will be in the same competitive region tomorrow. We are working closely with all the teams to help them make the most of their race strategies tomorrow and certainly for Minardi, this weekend is all about gaining as much information on their new car as possible. Judging by the performances so far though, I think we have a good chance of giving our rivals a good fight in the race. Certainly after this afternoon’s qualifying session things are looking good for the final qualifying session and race tomorrow.”

Full Bridgestone Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Michelin

Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director “It has been another day that underlines Michelin’s ability to produce competitive tyres to suit a wide range of different cars. Ultimately, our seven partners have chosen to use two compounds in tomorrow’s race, although there are no significant differences between them in terms of performance or durability.”

Full Michelin Qualifying Report  Back to Top

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