Team Rundown: Saturday Qualifying 2003 Spanish GP

By FIA
May 3 2003

	Team Rundown - Saturday Qualifying
	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: Michael Schumacher 1st, Rubens Barrichello 2nd. Ferrari scored a 1-2 in qualifying with the new F2003 GA chassis. "It is good to be 1-2 with the new car," said technical director Ross Brawn. "Renault looks strong but the question is whether or not they will be strong in the race? We had a choice between a new type of tyre and one we know already and we chose the known quantity because we were worried about the tyre wear." Michael Schumacher was delighted to be on pole. "It is good to be on pole with the new car because it shows how well the team works. It was not easy to find a good set-up because the circuit was changing all the time but we did it. Kimi's problem provides a good chance to close the gap in the championship." Barrichello was back in his normal car. "Everything was OK," he said. "It was not a particularly good lap. In some places I was too cautious and I made two mistakes." BMW Williams F1 Team: Ralf Schumacher 7th, Juan Pablo Montoya 9th. The Williams team continued to have a disappointing Spanish Grand Prix. "I am not happy," said Ralf. "We are too far away from the top runners. After the last test we had here we expected much more but we never got on top of our balance problems." Juan Pablo Montoya was also rather frustrated. "The handling was better in qualifying but it was still not ideal. I had to run in the T-car because of a fuel pump problem. Our poor grid positions will be a big handicap." West McLaren Mercedes: David Coulthard 8th, Kimi Raikkonen No time. It was a fraught afternoon for McLaren with Kimi Raikkonen going off on his qualifying lap and deciding to abort the lap. This means that the team can work on the car overnight but he will have to start from the pit lane. "I made a mistake at Turn 7 and there was no point in going on with the lap," he said. David Coulthard also had a troubled time. "I had an engine problem," David said. "I had to go into the spare car. The mechanics actually managed to change my engine in time, but I was committed to the spare by the time it was done and that had been set up for Kimi." Mild Seven Renault F1 Team: Fernando Alonso 3rd, Jarno Trulli 4th. It was a good day for Renault but there are question marks over whether the cars will be capable of winning on Sunday. "Tomorrow I hope that we can score many points," he said. Trulli also implied that the Renaults will not be challenging for victory. "The car is well balanced and has shown itself to be competitive today," he said. "The race will be difficult but we are confident because we are well prepared." Sauber Petronas: Heinz-Harald Frentzen 10th, Nick Heidfeld 14th,. Things had improved after a tough couple of days for Sauber. "The car was better," said Frentzen. "It had quite a nice balance. I had a bit of a scare in the warm-up because the car started to vibrate but we changed the brakes and everything was fine." Heidfeld felt the car was the best it has been all weekend. "The balance of the car was the best it has been all weekend. The balance was reasonable but I lost a bit of time in the second sector." Jordan Ford: Ralph Firman 15th, Giancarlo Fisichella 17th. It was a very tough session for the Jordan team with major dramas for Fisichella. "This has been a really frustrating weekend for me," he said. "There was an engine problem with my race car which meant that the engine had to come off the T-car. Then there was a problem with the fuel pump and so the engine had to come off the race car again and go back on the T-car. This was set up for Ralph and I had not driven it at all. Because it was all done at the last minute because I am running a different fuel strategy than planned." Ralph Firman was rather more positive. "I was very happy with my lap," he said. "I am getting closer to finding a good set-up and I am looking forward to the race." Jaguar Racing: Mark Webber 12th, Antonio Pizzonia 16th. It was a disappointing session for Jaguar Racing. "It was pretty much what we expected," said managing director David Pitchforth. "It would have been nice to have been in the top 10 but where we are in all right. Our strategy is a conservative one." Webber reckoned that the team's decision not to take risks was the right one. "We have a good race set-up. Everyone does 7000 laps around here and in the end it all comes down to the one lap. We have done 114 laps in two days." Antonio Pizzonia was disappointed. "It was not as good as we expected," he said. "All the grip from this morning had gone. There was just no grip at all. I am on pretty much the same strategy as Mark." Lucky Strike BAR Honda: Jenson Button 5th, Jacques Villeneuve 11th. "I am a bit disappointed," said Jenson Button. "Having been so quick yesterday you think you are going to do better in qualifying but I have to admit that I made a few small mistakes. Still I am happy because given the strategy we are running, fifth is a good place to start." Villeneuve qualified in his repaired race car. "The lap was good but not special," he said. "I am quite happy compared to yesterday when the car was virtually un-driveable. We found out what the problem was and started afresh this morning so all things considered I am reasonably satisfied." European Minardi Cosworth: Justin Wilson 18th, Jos Verstappen 19th "When you are so close to the limit it is easy to make a mistake and I pushed too hard into Turn 4 and nearly lost it. I was two tenths quicker in the warm-up but I took off some downforce from the front wing and it was not the right thing to do. The car was sliding even at high speed - which is strange in an F1 car." Panasonic Toyota Racing: Olivier Panis 6th, Cristiano da Matta 13th "I am very very very pleased with my lap," said Panis. "It was good and clean. The car suits the track well as we have seen all weekend. We have a good strategy for tomorrow and I am aiming for points." Da Matta said his lap was "good but not great". Bridgestone: Hisao Suganuma: "I am very pleased with the result of the two Ferraris and also Jenson Button's time. It was an excellent job. I am particularly pleased at seeing our tyres performing well in hot conditions. Most of the testing has been done in cooler conditions in the winter. I expect us to be strong in the race." Michelin: Pierre Dupasquier: "It is clear that certain cars are very heavily loaded with fuel and others are very light. We must wait for the first stops to have a true idea about who is doing what."