Ferrari delighted to end the Montoya pole streak!

“It is a dream to get my first Hockenheim pole and hopefully also the win tomorrow,” said Michael. “I am more than excited about this and I would like to transform today’s performance into victory in the race, as I have never won here with Ferrari. Seeing the excitement on the face of the fans and to feel their excitement was a boost for me. On my second run, I went over the kerb too much and the car got away from me. A lot of cars were sliding, so maybe there was some dust on the track initially, but then it picked up speed. So it took time to get a good lap time, but we got it together in the end, which was the result of good preparation in the morning. When I got out of the car, I was not sure whether to wave to the fans in case someone bounced my time! We have worked on having a consistent pace during the race. The good thing about this track is that the new design means if you go off the track, you might lose a place, but your race should not be over, which I think is fair and safe.”

Rubens Barrichello had to settle for third on the grid, which is not a bad starting place as he will be on the so called clean side of the track, which could aid his getaway. Barrichello missed the second of today’s practice sessions after a small crash in session one but his performance in qualifying was not really hampered as he had what he described as the perfect car today and is confident that the race will see him rewarded.

“I am pleased with the job the team did today on my car,” commented Barrichello. “After I went off the track in the morning, losing a lot of track time. In the end, the car was perfect, but after you have an accident, you always need to use your first run to find the limits of the car. On my second run, I did not make any changes to the car, but I did later in the session. On my third run I went over a kerb and on my last one, I was trying very hard and ran wide, losing time. This track is the sort where you have to be on the limit all the time and the smallest mistake can cost you a lot of time. I am confident for tomorrow, when we will be trying to have a good race for ourselves and for Ferrari.”

Jean Todt and Ross Brawn were both equally happy with the way the qualifying session worked out, after the cool conditions in the morning the heat had risen a lot in the qualifying session and the team where happy with the way the tyres behaved. And with more heat expected for the race tomorrow they are confident that things will go their way.

“As usual, we witnessed a great battle for pole position,” remarked Todt. “Michael showed how motivated he is and Rubens got a very good result, considering he lost the entire second half of this morning’s free practice session. We also saw how easy it is to make a mistake on this new track. Tomorrow, we can expect even higher temperatures than today and it will be a very tough race for the drivers, the cars and the tyres. Michael would dearly love to win his home grand prix and Rubens would really like to win on his team-mate’s home turf. The important thing is to pick up as many points as possible to close in on the Constructors’ title and second place in the Drivers’ Championship. Having said that, it is nice to be in the situation in which we find ourselves now, having already won the Drivers’ title.”

“I hope we will be able to break the recent tradition that has seen Saturday’s pole man fail to win on Sunday!” said Ross Brawn. “It was an exciting session. We based our tyre choice on being in good shape for tomorrow, given that we are expecting it to pretty hot. I think it will be a very interesting race, during which strategy will be an important factor. The drivers like this new track, as they can get back on track without losing too much time if they make a mistake. That’s why we saw the drivers push it to the limit.”