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BMW WilliamsF1 driver Juan
Pablo Montoya fought a thrilling pole position battle with Ferrari drivers
Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello at Magny-Cours, and got the
better of them once again to record his fifth consecutive Formula One pole
position. His 1m 11.985s lap is the fastest ever seen at Magny-Cours and
he beat world championship leader Schumacher by just 0.023s. Michelin
drivers dominated the session and will occupy seven of the top nine places
on the grid.
Michael Schumacher had two of his qualifying times discounted, firstly for
running wide and missing out the last corner, secondly for cutting a
chicane, but neither would have been fast enough to usurp Montoya. If the
Colombian wins tomorrow it will keep the world championship fight
mathematically alive for at least one more weekend; victory for Schumacher
could be enough to secure him a record-equalling fifth world title.
Montoya said: "This was really a good qualifying, probably my best so far.
Michelin has made a big step forward and has brought here some very
consistent tyres which makes us confident for tomorrow race."
Barrichello qualified third, fractionally faster than rising McLaren's
Finnish star Kimi Raikkonen and Montoya's team-mate Ralf Schumacher. "The
tyres were working well and I can't see why that should not the case for
the race tomorrow if the conditions stay the same." said Kimi.
McLaren team-mate David
Coulthard was sixth, ahead of the Renault's of Jenson Button and
Jarno Trulli in seventh and eighth, and Jaguar's Eddie Irvine. The
Ulsterman's team-mate Pedro de la Rosa qualified fifteenth after twice
being forced to stop because of technical problems. He completed only one
proper run.
Toyota drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish were sixteenth and seventeenth.
The final Michelin runners the Minardi drivers Mark Webber and Alex Yoong
were eighteenth and nineteenth. Webber had his session disrupted by
technical problems and he completed only two runs.
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director, responded to various
questions.
Juan Pablo Montoya has just secured his fifth consecutive Formula One pole
position after setting the fastest lap ever seen at Magny-Cours. You must
be extremely pleased?
"It is a very satisfying result for two reasons. Firstly it proves that
the package of Williams chassis, BMW engines and Michelin tyres is
extremely effective and in Juan Pablo we have a driver who is capable of
making full use of the material at his disposal. He did a fabulous job.
Secondly, we have taken several pole positions this season with tyres that
are relatively soft; it was nice to do it today with a compound that
should provide very consistent performance in race trim. It is fair to say
I feel quite optimistic about our prospects tomorrow."
Will both your primary (A) and option (B) tyre compounds be used in the
race and what are the main differences between them?
"Both will be used and there should be an approximate 50/50 split among
our partner teams. To be honest there is not a great deal of difference, a
matter of a few tenths per lap at most. The harder one will obviously be
more durable, but from what we have seen the softer, option tyre should
also provide consistent race performance, certainly if you compare it to
the much softer tyres we ran in Monaco and at the Nürburgring earlier in
the year."
Have track conditions changed much since Friday's free practice?
"As usual that seems to be the case. The more time cars spend on the
track, the more rubber they lay down. That gives us more grip and, with
cars sliding around less than before, the rate of tyre wear decreases. I'm
sure it will be different again for tomorrow's race, and only when the
chequered flag falls will we see which of our teams made the best tyre
choice. At the moment their performance is too close for us to be sure
which will prove most suitable."
You have picked up six pole positions this season but so far only two
wins. Is that a huge source of frustration?
"I wouldn't say that. Rather, it has been a constant cause for
investigation. The fact we able to produce such consistent qualifying
speed without always being to repeat it in the race has taken us down some
interesting technical paths and we are constantly analysing our products
in an effort to improve. Believe me, if we win tomorrow we won't be
sitting back on our laurels, we'll be looking to do produce an even
greater level of performance at Hockenheim next weekend." |
