1st qualifying - Driver's quote-
Jarno Trulli, Toyota (1st, 1m 14.795s):
"I'm delighted to be on provisional pole, and especially so because
this is the first time Panasonic Toyota Racing has managed the
feat. My lap was nice and clear but I must say I'm surprised to
have taken such a perfect result. I was struggling to find grip
this morning, but in the end things went much better in qualifying.
I have no doubt that the race will be hard tomorrow as the front of
the grid is so tight, but we will do our very best to convert this
result into pole position tomorrow morning. Then I will give
everything I have in the race."
Fernando Alonso, Renault (2nd, +0.016s):
It was a special qualifying session for me, to be competing in
front of all the fans and see their support around the lap today.
In the car, I made a couple of small mistakes on my timed lap, so I
am pleased to be in the top three for tomorrow morning and,
probably, the race. There was a little more grip out there than I
had expected, so I am encouraged because the car has the potential
to be faster. But it has felt good all weekend, and I think we are
set up well for tomorrow in second qualifying and the race, when I
will be able to attack even more.
Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren (3rd, +0.024s):
"A pretty good result considering that we started quite early in
the session. I'm upset as I made a mistake at Turn Two by going
wide and I lost probably around half a second - without that we
would have been quickest. However it's tomorrow where it really
counts and I can't wait. The car has been working well and we have
the pace so with a strong lap we should be in with a chance of a
good starting position."
Ralf Schumacher, Toyota (4th, +0.075s):
"I'm happy with my lap, which was good and clear. Perhaps I was a
bit too cautious in the windy final sector, but to finish so close
to the front is great news. I ended up only 75 thousandths of a
second off pole, so I can't complain! In the end, it could have
gone either way but even though I am not on provisional pole I am
still confident looking ahead to tomorrow. The performance is
there, the car is there, the tyres are there and I'm very confident
with the car on race fuel. So now I will look to capitalise on this
good start in the race. Tomorrow's another day and that's what
counts."
Nick Heidfeld, Williams (5th, +0.243s):
I am happy with my lap today, although I didnt push flat out
knowing that I will have to start my race from the back. With
regards to the set-up of my car, it was much better in qualifying
compared to this mornings free practice sessions. Since we have
known that I will have to start from the back we have concentrated
even more on race set-up and I am quite confident that we have the
potential for a strong race tomorrow. We are going to try our best
on Sunday but its not going to be easy starting from the
back.
Mark Webber, Williams (6th, +0.247s):
I had a pretty clean lap notwithstanding that this place is
incredibly sensitive to the wind. Anyway, its the same for
everyone else. I didnt have any running at all yesterday, due to
the engine issue and of course I would have preferred to have put a
few more laps under my belt in order to get better prepared for the
race, but thats what Ive got and 6th is not too bad. Since they
laid the new tarmac, this is a different Barcelona circuit to what
we were used to in the past. Its pretty good and a lot easier on
the tyres compared to what we had before.
Michael Schumacher, Ferrari (7th, +0.603s):
It was a reasonable performance in this qualifying session. I was
looking strong in the first sector, but then lost about four tenths
in the last two. If we look at my pace this morning, it is obvious
we have made up some ground this afternoon, closing the gap to the
others. Whatever happens in final qualifying, this is not the ideal
position on the grid. So we will have to rely on our race
performance. I am much happier with that and I think we are much
more competitive in race trim. It is fair to say, we are still
struggling with our single lap performance.
Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault (8th, +0.806s):
I did a clean lap, maybe a little conservative, but the important
thing for me was to make up positions and get into the top eight. I
think things will be better tomorrow morning - Heidfeld will lose
positions with his penalty, and Michael (Schumacher) is only two
tenths ahead of me, so I hope I can climb up into the top six in
qualifying. For the race, we have a good pace in longer runs and a
good set-up for tomorrow afternoon. The podium is a long way to go
from eighth, but I certainly think I can score a good points
finish.
Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari (9th, +0.951s):
Obviously, Im a bit disappointed that we had to change the engine
on my car before this qualifying session. The car seemed to be
difficult to drive over the one quick lap even though the balance
of the car was quite good. The situation was not helped by the fact
I made my run in the early part of the session. I think the car is
good in race trim, although of course I will be losing ten places
on the grid, which will make life difficult. It is a similar
situation to Imola in some ways, in that we seem to struggle in
qualifying, but on old tyres in the race, I am sure we will be much
stronger.
David Coulthard, Red Bull (10th, +1.000s):
I was a bit too cautious in the final sector of my lap, so I think
I could have got another half second out of the car. We have done a
slightly better job in qualifying here than we did in Imola, but I
think we still need to get more out of the cars potential. That is
the only way for us to move forward. Having said that, I am
reasonably comfortable with the race balance for tomorrow.
Felipe Massa, Sauber (11th, +1.068s):
"I had a good lap and the balance was okay, a bit of understeer
here and some oversteer there, probably because of the wind, but
nothing too bad. With a similar performance in tomorrow's final
qualifying I think we can do a good job in the race."
Juan Pablo Montoya, McLaren (12th, +1.107s):
"It's always a disadvantage to be one of the first cars out on the
track as the conditions will improve throughout the session. My
engineer actually said earlier today that we would be lucky to be
in the top ten. It was my first run on new tyres and the circuit
had changed from this morning, particularly the direction of the
wind and I had a lot of understeer. However there is another
qualifying session in the morning and I think we will be in a good
position for the race. I'm feeling fine and have experienced no
problem with my shoulder and am looking forward to the rest of the
weekend."
Vitantonio Liuzzi, Red Bull (13th, +1.493s):
Qualifying did not go too well for me. I had a problem with the
brakes at turn 10. We changed something on the brakes before the
session and it obviously did not do the job. Also, I locked the car
in the hairpin and went straight otherwise the car was not too bad.
But I think it will be very difficult for us tomorrow, in terms of
moving up the grid. We will have to wait and see how the race pans
out.
Jacques Villeneuve, Sauber (14th, +1.999s):
"The balance of the car was not too bad this afternoon, so really I
expected to be faster. Sometimes this season it's been a problem
for me getting the best out of the tyres over a single lap, but the
gap was quite big today. The car felt okay but that grip situation
seemed to be a little bit extreme here, so I'm mystified."
Narain Karthikeyan, Jordan (15th, +3.762s):
It has not been my quickest lap since the beginning of the weekend
but I am nevertheless still satisfied. It was a bit difficult to
warm up the tyres, but then the car balance was ok. The race
tomorrow will be very exciting, as all drivers know the Circuit de
Catalunya quite well and I hope we will finish the race in a good
position.
Tiago Monteiro, Jordan (16th, +4.245s):
The car was different to drive compared to this morning as the
track temperature was warmer, but I did a good lap. I am sure that
we have chosen the right Bridgestone tyres and the right car set-up
for tomorrows race. Now we have to put together the different bits
that we have learnt and see where we can improve.
Christijan Albers, Minardi (17th, +4.768s):
"It was a reasonable qualifying lap, even though we had some
understeer. It is also a satisfying result, as we had some bad luck
yesterday and this morning. Everyone is working really hard, and we
are definitely going in the right direction - I think we will have
a good car for the race."
Patrick Friesacher, Minardi (18th, +5.511s):
"I'm not so happy with qualifying, as I was more than a second
quicker in free practice this morning. I had more understeer for
this afternoon's run and there just wasn't enough grip, so I
couldn't really push the car hard in the way I would have liked.
We'll have to see if we can improve tomorrow."
