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Qualifying - selected driver quotes
The drivers on their afternoon at Spa-Francorchamps
True to its fickle reputation, the weather at Spa threw the proverbial
spanner into the works for Saturday's all-important qualifying session in
Belgium, as the drivers involved explained.
Jarno Trulli, Renault (1st, 1m 56.232s):
"This afternoon, we took a gamble and it paid off. We were watching the
cars that went out before me in qualifying very closely to judge whether we
could use the intermediate tyres or not. I thought it could work,
particularly in the second and third sectors, so we took the risk, and the
team did a great job to react so quickly. On the lap itself, everything
went smoothly: the handling of the R24 was good, and I would even say I
could have gone slightly quicker. It has been tough for me in recent races,
so I hope that I will be able to turn this pole position into a strong
result tomorrow."
Michael Schumacher, Ferrari (2nd, 1m 56.304s):
“The weather conditions meant the session was something of a lottery, as
we had not expected that final splash of rain. I can be happy with being on
the front row in second place given the conditions when I made my run. As
for my lap, I struggled a bit at the top of the hill, going sideways into
Turn 5. I think I lost the majority of the time at the last chicane as I
did not have enough traction on the way out, but I have no complaints. We
face a big challenge tomorrow as we know that the Renaults start very well,
but we have also made some very good starts and so I think we can be
competitive in the race.”
Fernando Alonso, Renault (3rd, 1m 56.686s):
"I think that overall, I was lucky today: after I had done the first half
of my timed lap, it started raining again, but fortunately it was not heavy
and I didn't lose too much time. In fact, it was the first time this
weekend that I had run on intermediate tyres, which meant I didn't have
long to adapt to them, and it was quite difficult to find the limit.
However, we had a very good day yesterday and I am optimistic that the car
will be very quick in the dry."
David Coulthard, McLaren (4th, 1m 57.990s):
"I was a little bit worried at the start of my lap as it began to rain.
However, the intermediates we chose to use shortly before my run gave us a
good qualifying time, especially as this was my first lap on these tyres.
The car has been set up for the race with dry weather in mind as is
predicted, so we will have to wait and see tomorrow, but I feel we will
have a strong race."
Giancarlo Fisichella, Sauber (5th, 1m 58.040s):
"Given that the rain spoiled our chances of a really high grid placing
today, I think fifth is a very strong performance. But I feel unlucky that
just before I went out we had to switch from wets to extreme wets as the
rain increased. That cost us performance, for sure. In the dry yesterday we
were very strong, however, so I am optimistic for the race as the forecast
predicts a dry day tomorrow."
Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari (6th, 1m 58.175s):
“Everything went quite well, except that there was a bit more rain when
the last group of five cars went out. The last corner caught me out, even
though I was feeling the tyres were losing a bit of their performance so I
was being careful. I had oversteer and went into a slide, so I suppose to
be in the top six having made a mistake is not too bad. A bit of a
frustrating day, but I’m still optimistic for tomorrow. I don’t mind if
it is wet or dry tomorrow, as the conditions are the same for everyone,
although my car is set up more for the dry than for the wet as we are
expecting drier conditions tomorrow.”
Mark Webber, Jaguar (7th, 1m 58.729s):
“It’s been quite an usual day for us here at Spa as we entered qualifying
having only completed twelve laps in this morning’s practice sessions. The
weather has not been good at all and this has really affected the amount of
running that we have been able to do. Despite this the team has done an
excellent job in preparing the car and as a result the R5 felt
well-balanced going into qualifying this afternoon. It was still raining
when I headed out and we took the decision to be on full-wets. The track
can be tricky to master in these conditions but I am pleased with where we
have ended up. 7th on the grid for tomorrow’s race is good news for us and
of course now we are focusing on the race and our goal to finish in the
points. All the cars are very reliable at the stage on the calendar and the
fight for points is not easy. However, we have a good solid package in the
R5 and we are well-prepared for tomorrow so I am looking forward to getting
out there and racing.”
Felipe Massa, Sauber (8th, 1m 59.008s):
"Between Juan Pablo Montoya and our runs the track got much wetter, so we
were rather unlucky today. By the time I went out for my qualifying lap the
track was completely wet and I got lots of wheelspin whenever I encountered
any white lines. But I am quite happy in such extraordinary circumstances
with eighth place, because I know that we have a good set-up, wet or dry,
for the race tomorrow. It's good that both cars are comfortably in the top
10, and I'm really looking forward to scoring some points."
Olivier Panis, Toyota (9th, 1m 59.552s):
"It was a good qualifying session for us today. I did a very good lap
running with full wet tyres and the team managed everything well in
difficult conditions. We have opted to run a different tyre compound
compared to other Michelin runners this weekend, which worked well in
yesterday's dry practice sessions. To be ninth on the grid with the
strategy we have opted for and the tyres we have selected, I am very
confident that we can have a strong race tomorrow."
Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren (10th, 1m 59.635s):
"Unfortunately it started raining heavily during my run. I made a mistake
in the last chicane, which cost me some time. However, from our performance
yesterday in the dry I think we should be looking OK in the race when the
weather hopefully will be dry again. The overall performance of my car has
been good from the start of the weekend, so I am looking forward to
tomorrow even though I am starting from tenth position."
Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams (11th, 1m 59.681s):
“Bad luck for me in today’s qualifying. The track was starting to dry out
and we decided to use intermediate tyres, like Trulli, Alonso and Coulthard
who went out just before me. However, already on my out lap it started to
rain quite hard, which made it very difficult to keep the car on the track
and as a result I lost a lot of time. There was no grip at all! It’s a
shame because in the morning we looked quite competitive in the wet and in
pre-qualifying I was the second fastest driver on Michelin tyres. Still, I
think we have a very good race car for tomorrow, we have found a good
compromise which will hopefully pay off.”
Jenson Button, BAR (12th, 2m 00.237s):
"It's disappointing to be 12th on the grid as it has been a very long time
since we have had a poor qualifying session. We made the wrong tyre choice
due to the standing water that was on the track and this cost us in our
performance today. However, the car is strong and we are confident for the
race, so with the mixed grid I think we can all look forward to an
interesting Belgian Grand Prix tomorrow."
Christian Klien, Jaguar (13th, 2m 01.246s):
“I was hoping to get some more running completed this morning and I was
certainly disappointed with only having the time to do six laps. The track
conditions were really wet and very greasy out there and this made everyone’
s job more difficult. The guys however have continued to work very hard on
the car and they have done a really good job with the package. The car
feels well balanced and very smooth on track so I am pleased with our
progress. My first qualifying session this afternoon was good but going
into the second session the rain started again when I headed out and I was
probably pushing too hard as well. Although 13th on the grid is still a
good points fighting place and given the complexity of this track I have no
doubt that there will be attrition. I will be looking to make the most of
any opportunity to make my way up the grid and I am certainly excited about
the race.”
Antonio Pizzonia, Williams (14th, 2m 01.447s):
“My qualifying was disappointing, for sure. The lack of running this
morning didn’t help, and I even crashed in the last few minutes. The team
did a really good job in putting the car back together in time so that I
was able to qualify in my race car. Obviously I’m disappointed, but
I’m hoping to have a good race tomorrow. It is possible to overtake here,
as it’s such a long circuit, so we will see what happens.”
Takuma Sato, BAR (15th, 2m 01.813s):
"I'm disappointed with today's result. The rain stopped during the session
and the lap and because we had extreme wet tyres on, they overheated quite
quickly due to the conditions, so I had very poor grip by the end of the
lap. The grid is quite mixed-up for the race tomorrow. We have good
straight-line speed, so we have an opportunity to achieve a solid two-car
points finish, continue to challenge Renault and maintain our third
position in the Championship."
Nick Heidfeld, Jordan (16th, 2m 02.645s):
“I’m not satisfied. Relatively speaking, the car looked really strong
this morning and we were not too far off the top ten and even then I knew
that there was still room to improve further. Then in pre-qualifying and
especially in qualifying, I lost grip and had a very loose rear end. But
that happens: obviously, it’s difficult for everyone to judge the
conditions with so little track time in free practice. But still we have
the race ahead of us and I’m looking forward to that.”
Gianmaria Bruni, Minardi (17th, 2m 02.651s):
Zsolt Baumgartner, Minardi (18th, 2m 03.303s):
Giorgio Pantano, Jordan (19th, 2m 03.833s):
“I’m a little bit surprised because I don’t know what changed between
pre-qualifying and qualifying! It’s so strange to lose 4 seconds from the
first to the second session. The car was different in qualifying, it was
much more slippery. I think there is something wrong, whether it’s the car
or me I don’t know but we need to understand what happened.”
Ricardo Zonta, Toyota (20th, 2m 03.895s):
"My grid position was affected a lot by the mistake I made in the first
qualifying session. There was not much grip on the track due to the large
amount of rain that had fallen all morning. I ran over one of the white
lines around the track, but it was very slippery and I was sent into the
gravel. The team did an incredible job trying to repair the car for the
second qualifying session, but some of the aero parts were damaged, which
unbalanced the car a lot for my second run. I am very sorry for the team,
but I hope our strategy will work to our advantage and enable me to work my
way up through the field."
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