Ross Brawn: Given the conditions, the fact we were still fighting for pole is a good result. I don't think being second on the grid tomorrow is such a problem as a racing line will not have formed on the track by the time the race starts. We have a good dry set-up and our indications are that we will have a dry race tomorrow. It's a shame Rubens had a little problem at the end of his lap, as it means he now has more work to do. In fact, we advised Michael to be cautious after seeing Raikkonen and Rubens nearly come off the track and so he rightly took it quite easy in the last sector. I think we will be in a strong position tomorrow as we did not compromise today and ran with a dry set-up.

Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): We have had a busy morning after Antonio's crash at the end of the short free practice session. We were ready just in time for pre-qualifying after a fantastic effort by the mechanics. In the main qualifying session Antonio made a couple of mistakes on his lap. Unfortunately for Juan it started to rain again right after he had left the pits on intermediate tyres. He did a good job by achieving the time that he did under these conditions. We have had no mechanical problems and we are looking forward to the race now.

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): Qualifying was a gamble today, heavily affected by the tyre choice. The weather was favourable to Renault and they took the pole. Our drivers had bad luck, just like a few others, especially in final qualifying. Now it's all about getting a good race from these two unfavourable starting positions.

Ron Dennis: "Overall the performance of the cars has been competitive with respect of the conditions, save for the inevitable performance differential between the makes of tyre. We anticipated tomorrow's conditions to be better, so consciously opted for dry settings for today's wet qualifying. This coupled with varying track conditions made it somewhat more difficult for the drivers during qualifying."

Norbert Haug: "Today was a weather lottery catching out other competitors even more than ourselves. Kimi had bad luck being out on his lap when it had started to rain heavily, and David's run on intermediates was hampered by worsening track conditions as well. However, with the forecast predicting better weather for tomorrow we should be better in the race."

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: "This is a fantastic result for the entire team. I have always said that I don't believe in luck, but we were certainly lucky today. Having said that, you must be able to seize opportunities when they come along and we did that by choosing to run on intermediates at the very last moment. Equally, Michelin supplied us with tyres that were perfectly suited to the conditions. I am very pleased to see Jarno take his second pole position, and we are confident that we can make good use of our grid positions in tomorrow's race."

Denis Chevrier, Engine Operations Manager: "It is extremely satisfying to see both cars qualify in the top three, particularly as today's running was disrupted so severely. Fortunately, we are confident that we are in a strong position for tomorrow's race: we completed more laps yesterday than many of our competitors, and collected a significant amount of useful information. That gives us real hope for the Grand Prix."

The notoriously fickle Spa weather scuppered the day's preparation as rain stopped play for all but 15 minutes of this morning's free practice sessions. Pre-qualifying and qualifying saw a gradual improvement as the track dried along the racing line and the teams were faced with a choice between sticking with a wet set-up to maximise qualifying position or working towards the dry race forecast for tomorrow.

David Richards, Team Principal: "As anticipated, the fickle Ardennes weather has created an interesting qualifying session. Both our drivers were on the track at a time when it was a fine line between the choice of wet or extreme wet tyres and, unfortunately, the safe choice did not pay off on this occasion. Nevertheless, assuming the prediction of a dry race tomorrow proves correct, we should be capable of a strong performance and another solid points finish for both cars."

Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director: "Despite the morning sessions being limited to just 15 minutes of wet running, we were able to get good laps on both cars and were confident with our car performance going into qualifying. However, the conditions in the afternoon were more variable and the window when Takuma and Jenson ran was too dry for the extreme wet tyres we chose to run. With slightly different timing we might have chosen the wet tyres instead but the advantage fell to the following runners. Despite our poor grid positions, we are confident that we have a good set-up for tomorrow's race."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development: "That was clearly not a good session for us but we have been fast up to this point so I am confident we can do a good job tomorrow."

Peter Sauber (Team Principal): "It was a very strong qualifying session for us. Congratulations to Giancarlo and Felipe, and to the team for developing such a strong car. Thanks, too, to Bridgestone for their tyres. We actually had bad luck, however, as the rain worsened just before Giancarlo and Felipe went out. I believe that each of them will start a row further back than they really deserve to. Nevertheless, we are looking forward to a strong race performance whatever the conditions."

Dr Mark Gillan Head of Vehicle Performance: The rain this morning limited our running time and as it happened we went into qualifying having only completed 12 laps between the two cars. Everyone is in the same boat though and I did feel well prepared for qualifying after our good strong practice performances from yesterday. During qualifying the conditions did not improve greatly and we ran in extreme wets. Both Mark and Christian produced solid performances and I am certainly pleased with our positions for tomorrow's grid. We tried very hard today to maintain our focus for the race tomorrow as it is forecast to be dry while also preparing the car for qualifying which was wet. I think we have achieved this but of course we will have to wait and see how we do tomorrow. This race is going to be exciting and with both of our drivers in good starting positions we will be racing for a points finish with both.

James Robinson: In race trim in the morning we ran solidly and the Bridgestone tyres worked well. This afternoon we had a good weather forecast that said it would rain later in the session so we were hopeful of getting the best of the track conditions within the first 30 minutes of qualifying. Unfortunately an early shower forced us to stay with the extreme wets and we could not maximise our position.

Paul Stoddart, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth: All weekend, the team has performed competitively against its nearest rivals. To finish today's qualifying session between the Jordans and ahead of a Toyota is proof of an excellent effort and a job well done by both drivers and all team members. Let's hope tomorrow delivers Minardi a just result.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport: No pole today but we really saw the good performance of our extreme weather tyres today. First of all in pre-qualifying when conditions were equally wet for all the runners, we had four Bridgestone runners in the top five. Then, taking into account the amount of rain and water on the track during the Ferrari drivers' final qualifying runs, their performance was very pleasing. Michael, who was on extreme weather tyres, was just 0.07s off Trulli's time, who has on normal wet tyres. Unfortunately Rubens made a mistake in his final sector but he too had been on track for pole. This performance was also reflected in the results of the Sauber drivers who will start tomorrow's race from the third and fourth rows of the grid. All in all, there was plenty to be pleased about and now we shall concentrate on advising our teams for the race tomorrow.

Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: The conditions didn't really work for us today. We had a rain shower near the end [of the session] and Jarno Trulli was out at exactly the right time and did a good job. So considering the conditions, we're quite happy and will be in a strong position for the race tomorrow. We didn't compromise today and had a dry set-up on the car because our forecast is for dry weather tomorrow. There will also be plenty of opportunities in the race.

Heavy rain and lingering mist caused stewards to cancel all but 15 minutes of Saturday morning’s two free practice sessions. Even then, the limited track time was cut short after Antonio Pizzonia (BMW Williams F1 Team) and Gianmaria Bruni (Minardi) crashed independently at opposite sides of the circuit.

Toyota driver Ricardo Zonta failed to post a lap time in pre-qualifying after spinning off and clipping a tyre wall. He took part in the decisive second session but was only able to set 20th fastest time.

Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director: "It has been very satisfying to take our sixth pole position of the season. It is the first time this year that conditions have remained consistently wet on qualifying day and the results have been very encouraging.

"We obviously didn’t get much running this morning, with conditions permitting just a single, short free practice, but our partner teams performed very competitively. We stuck with full wets for most of that session, but Jenson Button tried intermediates right at the end and was confident he could have set fastest time if the session had not been red-flagged.

"Qualifying was a little bit of a compromise for everybody, because cars were running on wet tyres with set-ups that are suitable for the dry conditions we anticipate tomorrow.

"Jarno Trulli was the first Michelin driver brave enough to gamble on intermediates in the decisive session – and that paid off handsomely. Fernando Alonso, David Coulthard and Juan Pablo Montoya followed suit, but it began to drizzle again when Juan Pablo was out on the track and Kimi Räikkönen, our final runner, was forced to revert to full wets.

"Pre-race preparations have been hampered by the changeable weather and the reduced amount of running time available – but every team is in the same boat. It is a pleasure to be back at this magnificent circuit and the stage is set for a fascinating race."