Fernando Alonso (Pole)
Michael Schumacher (2nd)I had a very good lap today. We tried something a little bit different with our approach to qualifying, and it seemed to work well, so I am really pleased to be on pole for the first time this year. At previous races we have had problems with traffic or the fuel load, but today everything went smoothly and that made it much easier for me. I am looking forward to the race now, because I think it will be a good one. The Ferraris look very competitive, so let's see what tomorrow afternoon brings.
Felipe Massa (3rd)I am happy to be on the front row. We have been strong all weekend and so we can be optimistic about tomorrow?s race. The fact that the Renault is on pole does not surprise me, but I think we have a great chance of fighting for the win. Naturally, strategy will be vitally important. I think we will see a very close race for the win and as you know, I like a fight.
Rubens Barrichello (4th)This third place is a good starting point and I am pleased with my performance today. Our package works very well at this track and so I am confident for tomorrow?s race, when I hope to improve on my performance in Imola. I am not surprised to also be competitive here at the Nurburgring, because the 248 F1 has proved to be strong right from the start of the season. My quick lap was very good. With this qualifying format, you need to be very careful about choosing the right moment to go out on track and today, I waited for a moment in pit lane after changing tyres, in order to create a space between me and the cars that had gone out before me.
Kimi Raikkonen (5th)I'm very pleased with 4th place on the grid. It's another demonstration of how good the car and the team is and that we are making real progress. We now just have to keep our feet on the ground and focus on the race because I think we have a good strategy and we have shown good pace in free practice this morning. I'm looking forward to it
Jenson Button (6th)I am happy with the result today as we were not entirely comfortable with the car in the Friday practice sessions, but today was much better, and I was able to push and get the best out of the car. Everyone has worked really hard and as a result the balance of the car has steadily improved. I am confident that we can definitely be competitive in the race tomorrow, but it is always hard to tell until we see how the strategies unfold
Jarno Trulli (7th)I couldn't get a good balance, which is pretty normal for me around here! The car just didn't feel good so I wasn't feeling comfortable. I locked up in turn one which didn't help my last lap time, but it didn't cost much; it probably wouldn't even have been a place. I think we showed this morning that our race pace is there and we found a nice balance for the long runs, so we'll just have to wait and see what the race brings
Jacques Villeneuve (8th)First of all I have to thank my team and all my mechanics, because yesterday we had a problem with the car, which we could not solve during the practice. They all worked hard through the night changing out the chassis to give me the chance to run well today and to avoid any problems. This morning went quite smooth and we built up confidence with the set-up during the session. I am really satisfied with the lap I did at the end because being seventh is a definite improvement on the performance we have had
Juan Pablo Montoya (9th)The plan today was to get in the top ten, but we were hoping to be slightly better than p8. We concentrated on our qualifying set-up for a change, which enabled us to start further up the grid. I think we can get in the points, but will have to see how our set-up lives in the race. Giancarlo Fisichella seemed to be really angry and I am not exactly sure what happened. I thought I was ahead of him and I was trying to get out of his way, maybe I slowed him down a little bit but I never thought he was that close to me. I will go and talk to him because it was not done on purpose
Mark Webber (10th)This was not a great lap for me as I was still struggling a little with the set up of the car. We had to change quite a bit to improve the handling of the car throughout the practice sessions which resulted in a compromise. However our race pace is generally strong and I think that we have demonstrated good speed in the first two sessions. It looks optimistic for tomorrow's race, as long as we get a clean start of the line, as overtaking at this circuit is possible
TeamsBecause of the grid penalty due to the engine change today, we obviously had to choose the right strategy for the race and I think our engineers have done the best job given the situation that we are in. We?ll try hard in the race, but we couldn?t really expect a huge deal more from qualifying. I tried to maybe go a bit too hard on my last lap and made a little mistake on turn three, losing a bit of time there, but I had nothing to lose, as I am going back anyway. I just scraped into the last ten while everyone else was obviously running on low fuel.
Renault - Pat Symonds
It is great to be on pole position again, and particularly in the knowledge that we have an excellent race tyre and a sound strategy. Fernando used two sets of tyres for the final part of qualifying, and if his first lap was impressive, the second was stunning. We are expecting strong competition tomorrow, but it is shaping up to be a great race. As for Giancarlo, he was unfortunate not to get through to the final part of qualifying, because he certainly had the pace to do so. However, an incident with Villeneuve in Q2 ruined his chances. Nevertheless, he will start 11th after penalties have been applied, with a free fuel load. Bearing in mind his great performance after starting from the pit-lane at this circuit last year, I am sure we can work something out to help him gain some positions.
Ferrari - Jean Todt
Honda - Gil de FerranIt was a very closely contested qualifying session, which saw us come away with second and third places for Michael and Felipe respectively. Drivers, team, chassis, engine, Bridgestone tyres and Shell fuel and lubricants all worked well and this result should allow us to fight as front runners tomorrow. The decisive factors that will influence the final outcome are the same as ever: reliability, strategy and consistent tyre performance.
McLaren - Norbert HaugBoth drivers sailed through Q1 but Q2 was a bit tighter, especially for Jenson. As a result, we were forced to do two runs to make sure he got into Q3. Once that mission was accomplished, we focused on making sure traffic wasn't going to play a part in Jenson and Rubens' fast laps. Rubens did a great job in Q2 and carried that speed over to Q3 placing him well for the start. Jenson was less happy with his car during the whole of qualifying but still managed to end up in the top six. As usual it is difficult to say what strategy everyone is on, but we feel we are in a good position going into the race
Toyota - Pascal Vasselon - Senior General Manager ChassisCertainly not the places on the grid we have aimed for, but the team and both drivers have worked very hard since yesterday and achieved good lap times in Qualifying One and Two. Tomorrow we will see whether our strategy will pay off
BMW Sauber - Mario Theissen - BMW Motorsport DirectorOverall today's results are encouraging for the whole team. We are quite pleased with the final outcome for Jarno, considering the concerns we had yesterday. He was really motivated and pushed hard during all three sessions. Unfortunately Ralf missed the opportunity to resume in the third qualification after having locked up the brakes in Turn 1. He will start midfield which will not cause a large concern, as we will adapt our strategy accordingly. With both cars running reliably without any issues, we are optimistic going into tomorrow.
Williams - Sam Michael - Technical DirectorThis qualifying was again a thriller, although the time differences were not as close as in Imola two weeks ago. Jacques was quick in all three parts of qualifying and was able to secure a very good eighth position. Nick didn?t do well in the second part of qualifying and lost time through the whole lap, therefore, missing the top ten. However, for him this means we can adjust the race strategy. Technically both cars ran problem free
Red Bull - Christian HornerAfter morning practice we undertook engine changes on both cars which obviously changed our strategy for qualifying. Although this is a clear set-back in terms of start position and we will be starting the race from an unfamiliar position at the back of the grid, we are still determined to do everything we can to get the cars into the points. Our long runs in all the practice sessions have been competitive and that will help us in the race tomorrow.
Toro RossoChristian was extremely unlucky. When he was on his flying lap, the FIA timing screen crashed bringing on a red flag. It was immediately relayed to the drivers to slow down, so his lap was aborted. When it was clear that there wasn't a red flag, Christian started a second timed lap, but Takuma Sato blatantly blocked him, which cost him well over a second and any chance of moving into part two. It's a great shame, as he's been looking good all weekend. David looked as though he was on the bubble on his last lap, until a slight mistake in the last corner cost him a couple of tenths. It's frustrating to be where we are, but the potential's to be better. We'll move up two places due to the Cosworth engine changes, and tomorrow will be racing hard
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MF1 Racing - Colin Kolles
Super Aguri - Aguri Suzuki - Team PrincipalWe will look into what happened with that timing error, because I think it's pretty clear that we suffered the biggest disadvantage as a result of this problem. But anyway, more importantly, the time gap to the front is shrinking all the time. We're still not where we want to be, but you can be sure we will work hard to get there
It was a very frustrating qualifying session and it felt like it ended before we could actually start. The red flag was out when we needed to go out at the end of first 15 minutes and Franck and Taku couldn't really have a good attack. Taku went out with a new set of tyres and when he was ready to make his quick lap with the second set, the red flag was out. As both SAF1 Team cars did not finish in Imola I hope that we will have another two-car finish in the race tomorrow
