Problems Prevent True Potential from Showing
By Jamie Makin
July 11 2004
Team SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella will start tomorrowīs British Grand Prix from 10th and 19th position respectively after this afternoonīs qualifying sessions.
Saturday, Qualifying 1:
| Driver | Chassis | Best Time | Position |
| G. Fisichella | C23-03 | No Time | 19 |
| F. Massa | C23-01 | 1:19.317 | 2 |
| Spare Car | C23-04 | - | - |
Saturday, Qualifying 2:
| Driver | Chassis | Best Time | Position |
| G. Fisichella | C23-03 | No Time | 20 |
| F. Massa | C23-01 | 1:20.202 | 11 |
| Spare Car | C23-04 | - | - |
An ominous dark sky provided the backdrop for one of the most dramatic qualifying sessions of the season. Pre-qualifying saw teams employ varying methods of setting slow times in order to run early in the final qualifying session in hopes of beating the threatening rain.
Both Ferrari drivers admitted to having deliberate off-track excursions to set slow times, while other teams such as Williams-BMW and BAR-Honda played it safe by simply slowing dramatically in the final sector. Team SAUBER PETRONAS had mixed fortunes for their two drivers. Whether Fisichella's spin that denied him the ability to set a time was deliberate or not is not known. However, he was pushing very hard when it happened, perhaps in hopes of snagging P1 away from Jenson Button. Felipe Massa put in his best efforts in pre-qualifying and was rewarded with second place.
Despite being on their chosen strategy, the grid positions attained by the drivers do not live up to the potential that the significantly upgraded C23 showed all weekend. The team chose not to send Fisichella out in final qualifying in an attempt to save fuel, tyres and reduce engine wear. After all penalties have been assessed, he will start 19th in tomorrow's race. However, he is still optimistic of his chance for points. At the Nurburgring last month, a similar scenario saw him finish 7th after starting from the back.
"We elected to stay in the pits because of my engine penalty, saving the tyres and the fuel," Fisichella said. "If I had a choice for tomorrow, Iīd like it to rain!" Indeed, the Italian's only Formula One victory to date came in the rain-shortened race in Brazil last year.
Felipe Massa was in a better position to put his best foot forward in final qualifying, but faced another frustration beyond his control. He was on track to set a position well within the top team when he came up behind the slow moving Toyota of Olivier Panis. Although Panis claims his blocking was not deliberate, Massa could not take the optimal line into Abbey and lost a significant amount of time as a result. He placed 11th just displacing Panis from the position.
The Brazilian was clearly seething with anger after the incident. "Itīs unbelievable! I have told Panis that I cannot understand what he was doing. He must have seen me, and even if he didnīt, he had to know at the speed he was going that another car would be coming up behind him soon. The team should have been telling him. Fine, if you are going slowly to save fuel, brake on the straight and keep out of the way. He didnīt do that. He was in the way, and he braked on my line. Without that I could have been ninth. Iīm very disappointed because the car was very good today, and the balance was not too bad. Itīs really not fair."
The team protested the actions of the Toyota driver, and the stewards agreed that he impeded Massa's fast lap. Panis received a penalty as a result, and will have to start at the back of the grid tomorrow. Massa's start position was bumped up to 10th as a result of Renault changing the engine on Fernando Alonso's car, but this is little consolation to Massa for ruining what would have easily been his best qualifying performance of the year.
Peter Sauber backs the team's decision on the qualifying strategies. "There was no point in sending Giancarlo out this afternoon as he had been given a 10 grid-place penalty because of his engine change yesterday," the team boss said. "It made more sense to preserve his tyres and start at the back. Felipe drove a great qualifying lap but unfortunately he lost his ninth place by Olivier Panisīs incomprehensible behaviour. That handed the advantage to Mark Webber, who is in front of us."
SAUBER's weakness this year has always been in qualifying, and they have performed consistently stronger in the race. This bodes well for their efforts tomorrow and the upgraded C23 is expected to be able to fight for points. "During the last two days we have confirmed that our new rear body work has made a considerable improvement to the performance of the C23," remarked Peter Sauber.
The team should be strong, regardless of the weather conditions. Their Bridgestone tyres are still expected to be at an advantage over Michelin rivals should the skies open up.
Saturday, Free Practice 3:
| Driver | Chassis | Best Time | Position |
| G. Fisichella | C23-04 | 1:20.759 | 12 |
| F. Massa | C23-01 | 1:20.685 | 11 |
| Spare Car | C23-03 | - | - |
Saturday, Free Practice 4:
| Driver | Chassis | Best Time | Position |
| G. Fisichella | C23-04 | 1:19.895 | 10 |
| F. Massa | C23-01 | 1:20.281 | 12 |
| Spare Car | C23-03 | - | - |