2004 Australian GP Qualifying: Team Comments

By BMW WilliamsF1
March 6 2004

	Australian GP Saturday - Team Comments
	The BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers have qualified for the season's opener in Melbourne's Albert Park on the second and fourth rows of the grid. Juan Pablo Montoya was third fastest whilst Ralf Schumacher recoded the eighth fastest time.
	Juan Pablo Montoya Chassis: FW26 05 (T-car FW02) Best time: 1:24,998 min "The car was a lot better today than in yesterday's free practice. It took us a while to get the set up of my car working properly. Yesterday we also struggled a bit with the tyres but they have got better and better. I was amazed by the time I set in the first qualifying, but then I tried too hard in the second qualifying and made a mistake in the third sector and lost my advantage. However, I am confident for the race, because our package seems to improve throughout the weekend, which will lead us to have a very good car tomorrow."
	Ralf Schumacher Chassis: FW26 03 Best time: 1:25,925 min I don't really know why everything went fine in the first qualifying but not in the second one. Being eighth on the grid is obviously not what I have dreamed of but we should wait and see what the race will bring. The most important thing for me is to collect as many points as possible here."
	Dr Mario Theissen BMW Motorsports Director "The first double qualifying of the new season has been interesting. The result shows that in 2004 Ferrari is again the team to beat. Compared to Friday's free practice sessions, we have been much more competitive today. To really rate the lap times, we have to wait until tomorrow's race will be over. The two BMW P84 engines have so far recorded 63 and 59 laps respectively without any technical problems."
	Sam Michael Chief Operations Engineer WilliamsF1 "Juan did a good job in qualifying but we have to wait and see where both drivers are tomorrow in the race. We did not have any problems in the morning sessions or in qualifying, which means so far for the first race weekend of the season everything has gone according to plan. Now we are looking forward to tomorrow's strategy for the race. We are confident for a strong showing."

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