Ralf surprised with grid position

Despite this both WilliamsF1 drivers are in an excellent positions to do well in the race. The gap between pole position holder Rubens Barrichello and Ralf is only three tenths of a second, an improvement over the last race in Spain.

Even Ralf was surprised where he was able to finish on the grid. in the qualifying press conference Ralf said: "We are definitely surprised at being in between them. The gap seemed to be a lot bigger than it appears to be. I certainly don't know what Michael's reason was, but that gave me a chance to come in between the two of them. I did two laps very similar, the car was brilliant so thanks to the team and thanks to Michelin."

As to how the team were able to turn things around was it the case that the warmer temperatures helped their Michelin tyres or had all the setup work in practice paid dividends come qualifying. Ralf commented by saying: "It's usual that the more sun we have the better it is for us. That certainly helped, but the car was already good this morning. We just concentrated on working on different things."

Even with their excellent qualifying performances it has been Ferrari who has dominated the weekend up to this point, with a Ferrari on pole. Prior to the start of the Austrian GP weekend those at WilliamsF1 felt that the A1 Ring circuit would suit the FW24 but the dominance of the Ferrari F2002 made such a view seem fairly incorrect. Based on this Ralf felt that his grid position was somewhat of a surprise.

Ralf added: "It is a surprise. To a certain extent we even thought in the last run that with a perfect lap it might even work out. It is a lot better than we expected because we made everything possible out of our package and the tyre worked brilliantly today, especially with the sun coming out. The whole package was fairly good."

The fact that the track temperatures were on the rise during qualifying certainly helped those teams using Michelin tyres. Ralf saw this change in conditions working in their favour. Ralf added: "It is always important, but more important for us than it seems to be for other teams. We prefer it to be hotter."

Surprisingly most drivers were finding the kerbing on the outside of the corners was to provide them with extra grip. Ralf agreed with this by saying: "Actually we get more grip than we get from the circuit so we should consider having that everywhere! It looks a lot nicer doesn't it?"

In relation to grip the one thing that is of concern to Ralf is his place on the grid and the fact that it places him on the dirty side of the track. Ralf added: "Yes, that's the only worry we have for tomorrow but then today I enjoy being second and worry about that tomorrow. Since we all have this launch control it shouldn't be such a big issue. We just have to come through the first corner, it is a very exciting two starting rows at the front and let's go to the race from there."

If the weather plays in the hands of the WilliamsF1 team and their Michelin tyres by having warm track conditions we may see both Ralf and Juan pablo challenge for the race.