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2005 German 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 - 19th )

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."

Full Team and Driver Qualifying Report  Back to Top

BAR Honda ( Jenson Button - 2nd, Takuma Sato - 8th )

GIL DE FERRAN, SPORTING DIRECTOR
"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."

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Renault ( Fernando Alonso - 3rd, Giancarlo Fisichella - 4th )

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."

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Ferrari ( Michael Schumacher - 5th, Rubens Barrichello - 15th )

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.�

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Williams BMW ( Mark Webber - 6th, Nick Heidfeld - 7th )

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.

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Toyota ( Jarno Trulli - 9th, Ralf Schumacher - 12th )

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."

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Red Bull ( Christian Klien - 10th, David Coulthard - 11th )

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.�

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Sauber ( Felipe Massa - 13th, Jacques Villeneuve - 14th )

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."

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Minardi ( Christijan Albers - 16th, Robert Doornbos - 17th )

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.�

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Jordan ( Tiago Monteiro - 18th, Narain Karthikeyan - 20th )

ADRIAN BURGESS, SPORTING DIRECTOR
�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.�

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Bridgestone

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport, said: �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.�

Full Bridgestone Qualifying Report  Back to Top

Michelin

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 B�A�R - 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.�

Full Michelin Qualifying Report  Back to Top

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