23/10/2004
NEWS STORY
It was a very positive qualifying for the last Grand Prix of the 2004 season for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team. Juan Pablo Montoya set the second fastest time and will start tomorrow from the front row next to local hero Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari). The other Williams BMW, driven by Ralf Schumacher qualified 7th for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.
Juan Pablo Montoya: It's very nice to be on the front row here, because Interlagos is the place where I nearly won my first F1 race in 2001. Still I am very happy with this result because I think I was not able to beat Rubens anyway. I lost most of the time on my lap in the first sector where you can gain or lose it all and unluckily I did not get it right. I am pleased to give this good result to my team, since it is my last race with them and this is my way to say thank you to WilliamsF1 and BMW for all their hard work. I will do my best tomorrow to give possibly even more. The start will be interesting and we've definitely got a good race car. Hopefully we get it right tomorrow and achieve a happy end to what has been a difficult season for us.
Ralf Schumacher: Seventh is not too bad a place to start the race from because I will start from the clean side of the track. I know we have a good race car and a good strategy which makes me confident to be in a position to collect some valuable points for the team tomorrow.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): After making a lot of changes to our cars we managed to get a good race set-up this morning. The set up here is a compromise between the slow infield versus the rest of the track which is fast. Both drivers did a good job in qualifying and it's a good way to finish the partnership with them. With such a tight grid here it will be interesting to see what happens when the various strategies unfold tomorrow.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): As in Suzuka, our team had another strong qualifying session. This time it is Juan Pablo who starts from the front row. Behind the quickest, Barrichello, the lap times are very close together. However, I believe we have a strong position from which to start the race. Regarding engine performance it is nice to see that in all sessions our drivers were always the fastest on the long up-hill section that comprises the third sector.