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2005 German GP
Team Quotes - Saturday 23 July
Jean Todt: Our two drivers will be quite a way apart on the starting grid, which is the result of their having made different choices. It is clear that fifth and fifteenth places in qualifying are not what Ferrari aspires to. That also goes for Michael and to a greater extent for Rubens. But this is our current situation and all we can do is accept it and continue working as hard as possible with our friends at Bridgestone to try and return to a much more competitive level. It will be a long hard race tomorrow during which the different strategies, the cars' reliability and the wear rate of the tyres will be the key factors in deciding the outcome.
Ross Brawn: At the moment, the main task we face is trying to catch up with the front runners in performance terms. We have new tyre technology here and we had our two drivers on different types of tyre this afternoon. The tyre Michael used proved to be much stronger than Rubens' choice. Now, we will have to see how the race develops in terms of those tyre choices. Rubens might be able to move up the order if his tyres prove to be more consistent. Michael got the most out of his package, but it is still not quick enough. The weather forecast for tomorrow is mixed and that might give us the chance to do better than our grid positions would suggest.
Lucky Strike BAR Honda's Jenson Button will line up on the front row of the grid for the second successive race tomorrow after qualifying 2nd for the German Grand Prix. He split the McLaren of Kimi Raikonnen from his World Championship rival Fernando Alonso's Renault with a solid lap and is now aiming to keep both drivers well within his sights throughout tomorrow's 67-lap race.
His team-mate Takuma Sato did a great job to post the 8th fastest lap of the qualifying session, despite the disadvantage of being only the fifth driver out on track and therefore being unable to capitalise on the ever-improving track conditions.
Both drivers are optimistic about tomorrow's race for which the forecast of rain showers could conspire with some interesting grid positions to create a very exciting race.
Gil de Ferran: "We are delighted with the qualifying results today. We experimented with different set-up ideas during the practice sessions, which allowed us to hit a good balance for qualifying. As is becoming customary, Jenson did a great job and we ended up a little ahead of where we anticipated, which should be helpful to our race strategy. Taku was hampered by his early qualifying order but did an equally impressive job. Michelin seems to have brought some very consistent tyres, as was evident by our drivers' long runs in practice, and the engine is also running really well. We are really looking forward to the race tomorrow."
Shuhei Nakamoto: "From our point of view the qualifying session went well with both guys doing a good job. We will see tomorrow when all the team strategies become clear."
The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team annexed the second row in qualifying for tomorrow's German Grand Prix this afternoon at Hockenheim. In the warmest conditions of the weekend, with track temperatures around 34°C, the team's drivers qualified third and fourth after competitive, risk-free laps. The R25 has shown itself to be much more competitive in race trim than on a single flying lap so far this weekend, and these positions leave both drivers with the genuine hope of podium finishes tomorrow – and a possible fight for victory.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: Both drivers qualified in line with our expectations this afternoon. We knew from looking at the practice times that we would struggle to match McLaren on a single flying lap, but we are closer to them on race pace than qualifying speed. The weather predictions for tomorrow remain interesting, and at the moment there is a possibility of rain at the end of the Grand Prix. Come what may, I am confident it will be an exciting race.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Operations: Everything is in place for an open race tomorrow. We had identified our likely competitors during practice this morning, Raikkonen and Montoya, and their sector times confirmed their speed in qualifying. On our side, we go into the race in a strong position: the car is consistent on long runs and our top speeds are competitive. Our practice work was completed without incident, and we hope to see a closely-fought race tomorrow.
It was a positive qualifying for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team with drivers, Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld starting 6th and 7th respectively for tomorrow's German GP. After some problems in the last two races, the hard work on the Mkll bodywork seems to be finally bearing fruit.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): It was a good qualifying session by both drivers. We have made some steady progress with our car, but we still have some work to do to reach the team on pole. But as ever we will keep pushing for here and the next races. Tonight we will study all the scenarios for the race as we understand that here is still a chance of rain showers for tomorrow.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): After some difficult weeks we can see that the team has made a step forward. The hard work in the wind tunnel and in Jerez has proved positive. This was a pleasing qualifying for us and we hope we can collect some points in the race from our starting positions. We had no problems on the engine side.
Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen will start tomorrow's Mobil 1 German Grand Prix from pole position after setting a time of 1:14.320. It looked like it was going to be an all Team McLaren Mercedes front row with Juan Pablo Montoya appearing fast until the last corner of his flying lap when he lost the rear end of the car and spun into the tyre barrier. Consequently he will start tomorrow's race from the back. Today's pole position was Kimi's 7th in Formula One and McLaren-Mercedes 40th.
Ron Dennis: "This was a qualifying session of mixed emotions as we definitely had the opportunity to get both cars on the front row. Juan Pablo made a mistake, but he has the pace to make his way up the field. Kimi's pole position is well deserved and will put us in a strong position to challenge for the victory tomorrow."
Norbert Haug: "An excellent qualifying performance from Kimi. His pole position is the result of the good work of the team throughout yesterday and today. Without Juan Pablo's mistake both cars would have been on the front row."
Sauber drivers Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve will start tomorrow's German Grand Prix from 13th and 14th positions respectively after this afternoon's qualifying session.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): "This was a very disappointing result for us. This morning both cars were well balanced, but by this session their handling had deteriorated. Partly this may have been because the track conditions changed, though that was the same for every team. Jacques was complaining of the front wheels locking, while Felipe's car was suffering from oversteer. We are looking at the telemetry now to see if there is any obvious reason."
After today's qualifying session, David Coulthard and Christian Klien will line up eleventh and tenth on tomorrow's grid, for the start of the German Grand Prix.
Christian Horner, Sporting Director: Both drivers set good lap times today. We've worked hard on qualifying since Silverstone and I think we've set up a reasonable starting point ahead of tomorrow's race. It's our best qualifying session since Monaco, so we're looking forward to tomorrow.
Panasonic Toyota Racing's drivers Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher will start tomorrow's German Grand Prix from 9th and 12th places on the grid following today's qualifying at Hockenheim. The two drivers put in reasonably clear laps during a competitive session with a very tight middle order of the grid. Toyota will now head into Sunday's race aiming to make the most of a difficult weekend and to get both cars into the points. The team currently stands in 4th place in the constructors' championship with a total of 54 points.
Jarno Trulli kept up his record of making the top ten of the grid at every race this year by taking 9th place in qualifying for tomorrow's German Grand Prix.
Ralf Schumacher will look to make the points for the third race in a row after securing a place on the 6th row during today's qualifying session at Hockenheim.
Panasonic Toyota Racing hopes that Jarno and Ralf's race strategy will enable both drivers to push for a double points finish in Sunday's German Grand Prix.
Mike Gascoyne - Technical Director Chassis: "We have to be slightly disappointed with our qualifying positions. Both Jarno and Ralf put in reasonably clean laps. But it was a very close session and one or two tenths would have made a lot of difference. Still, we've aimed the weekend at our best race strategy so we'll see when the cars in front of us stop tomorrow. Looking at the times up and down the grid I certainly think we've got a race strategy that should see both cars getting into the points."
In the last two Free Practice sessions, Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro continued fine- tuning their cars for qualifying and tomorrow's race. The sessions went well in general apart from a small spin for Monteiro at the end of the morning. Karthikeyan made two mistakes in his qualifying lap and decided to return to the pits without setting a time. He will therefore start the race in 20th position. Monteiro will start tomorrow's 67-lap German Grand Prix in 18th place.
Adrian Burgess: It was quite clear to see that Narain's qualifying session did not run to plan. He made two small but costly mistakes therefore we decided to abort his lap. Tiago was a bit put off at the start of his lap by having a Minardi in front of him for two or three corners, which distracted him. On a whole it was not a great day but anything and everything could happen tomorrow and we will see what the weather will bring.
The Minardi F1 Team's all-Dutch driver line-up of Christijan Albers and Robert Doornbos today continued their strong run of form at the Hockenheimring, scene of Sunday's German Grand Prix. Albers put in another strong performance, his lap of 1 min 17. 519 secs securing 16th place on the grid, while new team mate, Doornbos, produced a controlled and pacey drive in his first experience of a Formula One qualifying session to take the 17th position. Saturday morning's two Free Practice sessions also gave a clear indication of the Faenza squad's improved form, the fastest lap time recorded representing an improvement of nearly one and a half seconds compared with the team's best at Hockenheim last year.
Paul Stoddart, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth: Today saw both Minardi drivers put in stunning efforts with substantial fuel loads to record 16th and 17th places on the grid for tomorrow's German Grand Prix. Both drivers were on the pace throughout the morning sessions, and as a result of the technical improvements from the team, the Minardi Cosworth PS05 is showing continued progress race on race. We now look forward to tomorrow.
Bridgestone shod Michael Schumacher will start the 67 lap German Grand Prix, his home race, from fifth place on the grid, row three, tomorrow afternoon. Cheered on by his fans, the reigning World Champion qualified with a time of 1 min 15.006 seconds. His teammate Rubens Barrichello will start from the eighth row. Meanwhile, the competition between fellow Bridgestone runners, Jordan and Minardi, continues. Christijan Albers in particular has been running well and he will start the race alongside Barrichello on row eight. India's Narain Karthikeyan unfortunately made a mistake on his run and did not therefore complete his lap which will see him starting from the final row tomorrow.
Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport: The three teams spent the morning sessions preparing their cars for qualifying and the race tomorrow. Track conditions were reasonable, enabling the teams to try various set-ups and improve their cars for the remainder of the weekend. In qualifying, Michael produced a reasonable result giving him a good chance of being able to jump further forward at the start of the race and although Rubens is further down the grid, we expect he too will be able to move up through field as the race progresses. Minardi and Jordan had a reasonable day today too with Christijan Albers impressing. The only exception was Karthikeyan who unfortunately made a mistake and did not complete his qualifying lap.
Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: We're in the middle of a very strong period of trying to catch up with the front runners. We have a lot of new tyre technology with both drivers on different tyres today and it looks, certainly this afternoon, as if Michael's tyre was much stronger than the other tyre in Rubens' case. But it will be interesting to see how the race develops and perhaps Rubens will start to make progress tomorrow if the tyres are more consistent. We're pleased with Michael's performance as I think we got as much as he could from the whole package, despite not being quick enough. I think he did a good job and the cars were sufficiently well balanced. We'll have to see what we can pull out tomorrow. The weather forecast for tomorrow is mixed which may give us the opportunity to do better than our grid positions are suggesting.
World championship contender Kimi Raikkonen will start tomorrow's German Grand Prix from pole position. The Finn's 1m 14.320s lap put him 0.439s clear of Jenson Button and maintained Michelin's 100 per cent pole position record for the season.
Points leader Fernando Alonso spearheaded the remaining Michelin runners. The Spaniard will line up third, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella, Mark Webber, Nick Heidfeld, Takuma Sato, Jarno Trulli, Christian Klien, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve.
Raikkonen's teammate Juan Pablo Montoya vied for pole until he spun off at the final corner, an incident that condemns the Colombian to the back row of the grid.
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director: We are set for another very interesting race– and several Michelin teams are clearly in a very good position. The pace of the McLarens and Renaults is self-evident, Jenson Button's BAR - Honda is well placed and I wouldn't rule out Juan Pablo Montoya's chances of challenging for a podium position from the back of the grid. Our tyres performed well in yesterday's cooler conditions and were very strong again today, when temperatures were more like those we are used to at Hockenheim. The forecast might still be uncertain for tomorrow, but the competitiveness of our tyres is very obvious.
Nick Shorrock, director of Michelin F1 activities: Our partners have opted for tyre solutions that will combine strong overall performance with excellent durability. These choices were relatively easy to make for the teams. There are some significant tyre loads here – particularly through the long, fast, left-hand sweep that leads to the first hairpin – but we have had no wear-rate issues at all. The warmer temperatures today were more suitable for our chosen compound's natural operating windows and I am very confident about our prospects for the race.
Martin Whitmarsh, CEO Formula One, Team McLaren Mercedes: That was a terrific lap by Kimi. Our cars have clearly been very strong all weekend and the whole team is very happy with the way the tyres are performing. The Michelin tyres are very good over one lap in qualifying and I'm confident they will be strong throughout the race. We are in great shape.
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