Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2006 5:06 pm
Fisichella takes second!
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Thank You MurrayEd wrote:de la Rosa spin spin spin!
At least !!Julian Mayo wrote:Michelin 1 to 6 on the grid thenEd wrote:Now Alonso is chatting to Fisichella!
Weather forecasts is for showers this afternoon!
Michael managed to squeeze himself in there but there is just 1 Bridgestone in the top 12!Julian Mayo wrote:At least !!Julian Mayo wrote:Michelin 1 to 6 on the grid thenEd wrote:Now Alonso is chatting to Fisichella!
Weather forecasts is for showers this afternoon!
Deep sighEd wrote:Current forecasts is for light rain throughout the day tomorrow!
There were so many spins today in practice and qualifying but I think the driver with most spins would have to be Liuzzi!Julian Mayo wrote:Deep sighEd wrote:Current forecasts is for light rain throughout the day tomorrow!![]()
I wanna see a race, not liuzzi spin spin spinning
I shall pray to the Big Bird for changing conditions...... a dry second half could make it interesting. Or my facetious prediction could come trueEd wrote:There were so many spins today in practice and qualifying but I think the driver with most spins would have to be Liuzzi!Julian Mayo wrote:Deep sighEd wrote:Current forecasts is for light rain throughout the day tomorrow!![]()
I wanna see a race, not liuzzi spin spin spinning
Wet/changing conditions have always made races exciting! A few years ago though it was the Bridgestone runners who used to pray for the rain, nowadays it is the Michelin runners!!
Giancarlo Fisichella - 2ndIt is fantastic to be back on pole for the first time since Canada. It was a difficult qualifying session, very busy and very complicated for all the drivers, but the Michelin tyres were fantastic and gave us exactly what we needed to do the job. Looking for tomorrow, nothing is certain with the weather, but I am confident we can be competitive in both conditions. We haven't done much dry running yet this weekend, but from what we have seen, the car seems to be very competitive. If it is wet, we know we are quick ? but also that many more things can happen. Obviously, this is a great team result when the championship is so tight, but we haven't done the job yet. I will stay focused, concentrate on doing a good race ? and race for the win.
Rubens Barrichello - 3rdThe car has been quick all weekend, and I am really pleased to be on the front row with Fernando. This is a great result for me because I am in a good position to catch up Massa in the championship, and for the team it is the perfect starting point. The conditions were very tricky during the session, and I spun in the second session ? so the pressure was on to get my lap done. After that, it was a question of repeating the performance in the third part, and making the most of the opportunity to qualifying at the front. I think we have a strong strategy, and good performance in all conditions. I am looking forward to a very competitive race.
Jenson Button - 4thI'm thrilled to be back in the top three qualifiers again, especially after such a difficult session. This is a great result for the team with Jenson and I in third and fourth and setting exactly the same lap time. It was pretty treacherous out there and at times it was just impossible to push. When I did I spun off and thankfully the gravel slowed me just enough for me to land on the grass. I was able to keep the engine running so I could keep going. Aside from that moment we're looking pretty competitive in the wet and in the past the race has come my way many times in similar conditions. If that's the way the weather plays out I'll be happy but we have a car that works well either way.
Kimi Raikkonen - 5thI'm very happy with today's result, especially with Rubens and I posting exactly the same time. It's been a very interesting day in which the Michelins are clearly very strong in the tricky conditions. It's pretty slippery out there which made it tough going, but we're looking good I think and I have a good strategy so we should be able to look forward to a great race, especially for the fans.
Michael Schumacher - 6thIt was a bit of a lottery in qualifying as it was really wet and slippery on track. However we did what we could and fifth is not too bad considering that I had traffic in the final corner which cost me a few tenths. The interesting thing will be to see what the weather will do tomorrow. I lost my mirror during the final qualifying session but didn't notice it, and it had no effect. Now we will see what happens in the race.
Pedro de la Rosa - 7thWe did the best we could in these conditions as our chances were damaged by the rain and sixth was the best I could do. You could call it a damage limitation operation. We still have the race ahead of us and from the third row of the grid, we can still aim for a good result, given that in the dry, we have proved to be very competitive. This qualifying session has not compromised my chances of winning the world championship. Apart from tomorrow?s race, there are still two Grands Prix to go and everything is still possible.
Nick Heidfeld - 8thA very eventful qualifying where I was constantly battling to stay on track, and had a lot of near spins. At the start of my flying lap when my Michelin tyres were at their hottest and had the most grip I was blocked by a car exiting the pitlane. I had to run wide to avoid a collision, and it was about three corners before I was able to get past by which point my tyres had cooled off. However in general I'm happy with the performance of our car and the Michelin tyres which is why we were consistent timing wise throughout qualifying, which is always encouraging.
TeamsEighth position is a good result. Before the qualifying I didn?t really believe we would make it into the top ten here. But then it went very well. The weather was good for us because the Michelin tyres are an advantage in the rain. In the second and quickest qualifying segment I was fourth, therefore, I was hoping for more in the final session. However, then the track was drying more and more and this didn?t help our car. The important fact is we made it with both cars into the top ten and Toyota, our nearest competitor in the constructors? championship, is a long way behind.
Honda - Gil de FerranA qualifying performance such as this is always particularly satisfying, but with the championship so delicately poised, it is an extra bonus. Our grid positions give us the opportunity for a very good race tomorrow, but above all this weekend has shown that the Renault is very quick here, irrespective of weather conditions. This afternoon's session was particularly fraught, and the whole team is to be congratulated on a disciplined and faultless performance. Thanks are also due to our partners at Michelin. Fernando's pole position once again demonstrated the quality of the Michelin tyre in wet conditions. We had seen it in Hungary, and today reinforced it. Even more gratifying is the fact that we also appear to have an extremely competitive dry tyre.
McLaren - Ron DennisI guess we can say that we are in a good position going into the race tomorrow! The weather conditions in qualifying made it very difficult to predict when the track was going to be at its best, therefore for both Q1 and Q2 we elected to run for most of the session. In the end, Jenson and Rubens got into the top ten quite comfortably. On the final shootout both drivers did a great job again to qualify on the second row with exactly the same time, the best qualifying performance of our team so far this year. It is also worth noting that Michelin produced a great wet tyre for Shanghai, which was clearly the class of the field this afternoon. We were competitive yesterday and again today, which bodes well for the race tomorrow. The weather is expected to be as uncertain for Sunday as it was today which always makes the race more unpredictable and therefore more exciting!
Ferrari - Jean TodtThe wet weather and a bit of on-track Shanghai traffic affected today's qualifying. However from grid positions five and seven anything is possible. The car and our Michelin tyres are working well, and we look forward to tomorrow.
BMW Sauber - Mario TheissenThis was a very difficult qualifying session because of the weather conditions that did not suit our package. Michael drove exceptionally well and sixth place is the best he could do. We have limited the damage but of course it is disappointing that we are unable to exploit the potential at our disposal, given how things went in this morning?s free practice. Felipe also did his best, but because of his engine change, he will have to start from the back of the grid. However, one should never forget that the final word of a Grand Prix comes only on Sunday afternoon, after the race. Apart from the usual parameters ? reliability, strategy, tyre performance, team work and driver performance ? we will also have to take into account how the weather situation evolves.
Red Bull - Christian HornerWe are happy about this qualifying result. For the sixth time this year and the third consecutive race both drivers have been in third qualifying. Of course the qualifying was influenced by the weather and, therefore, the tyre strategy. Our team made the right decisions in this respect as well. We believe from grid positions eight and nine we have good chances in the race.
Toro Rosso - N/ATo finish tenth and twelfth on a track that favoured Michelin runners is disappointing. We had the potential to be better. David was unfortunate because he clearly had the pace to make the top ten but, unfortunately, due to a communication problem, wasn't on the track at the right time.
Robert did a good job to reach the top ten in his first qualifying session for the team. We're not too far from the points scoring positions and that's where we'll be pushing to be tomorrow.
Toyota - Pascal VasselonGiven that we have performed well in the dry sessions here, today?s qualifying in the wet was a disappointment. We managed to get through to Q2 and ran closer to Ferrari on the same tyres than
we have for some while, but we will start tomorrow 14th and 15th and will have to see what we can do with strategy.
Spyker MF1 Racing - Dominic HarlowQualifying was a short story for us today due to a combination of two factors. The red flag came while both our cars were in the final sector of their quickest laps and we were in a position to considerably improve our lap times. At the same time, we obviously were lacking tyre grip today, which meant that we had absolutely no margin. Both drivers went out on standard wet tyres at the start, which was the right choice at the time before the track became much wetter later in the session. When the two drivers went out for their last runs after the red flag the line was much wetter. There was time for only one timed lap and it was impossible to improve because there was simply too much traffic. The weather remains uncertain for tomorrow, as it has been all weekend, with a high risk of rain. Obviously we would not look forward to a full wet race. But in this morning's practice session the track evolved from very wet at the start to dry by the end. We went out on race fuel at different times throughout the hour to understand tyre behaviour in all those different circumstances. That worked well so we should have a good idea of when to switch from between the tyres on a drying track. We have a hard race ahead but we will push hard to move up through the field.
Super Aguri - Aguri SuzukiThe weather made for some very interesting conditions today but qualifying clearly didn't go our way. We tried a particular strategy using the extreme wet tyres with which unfortunately both drivers struggled to find any performance. We will investigate other problems that Tiago encountered during the session and hope to find a solution before the race tomorrow.
This afternoon?s Qualifying was driven in very difficult conditions for everybody. It was hard for us to decide on the correct tyre choice for the session and then, just before the drivers went out for their attacking laps, we had a red flag situation. This was extremely bad timing for us and we did not qualify well, but hopefully we shall have dry conditions for the race tomorrow.