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2005 China GP
Team Quotes - Saturday 15 October
Jean Todt: The final qualifying of the season and the last one for Rubens at the wheel of a Ferrari, did not throw up anything particularly surprising. Sixth and eighth places are pretty much what we could have expected. A more detailed analysis of this session would take into account the different fuel loads which the various cars had on board and the track conditions when each driver made his run. Reliability, strategy and tyre performance and wear will be key factors in tomorrow's race. For our part, we no longer have any particular targets in the two Championships. But we will do our utmost to close this very tough season in as dignified a fashion as possible.
Ross Brawn: Both drivers produced reasonable laps, although neither of them was particularly clean, so maybe we could have squeezed a couple of extra tenths about. Nevertheless, pretty good and the tyres held up well for the full lap. I think the result for both cars is pretty much what we had expected before the session. We have a good strategy for tomorrow, so I hope that means we can pick up a few places in the race.
BAR Honda's Jenson Button will line up on the 2nd row of the grid for what promises to be a thrilling finale to the 2005 season in Shanghai tomorrow. Jenson qualified 4th for the Chinese Grand Prix after a faultless lap as the 16th runner out on track. His team-mate Takuma Sato was the first driver to leave the pitlane for his decisive single-lap run and posted the 17th fastest time on a 'green' track, which puts his BAR Honda 007 on the 9th row.
Jenson and Takuma continued to make steady progress throughout the morning's free practice sessions to improve the car balance. In the first session both drivers were in the top 8 drivers. The conditions changed significantly for the qualifying hour and Takuma suffered the brunt of that change with the early timing of his run. Running later in the session, Jenson delivered a very clean lap that, at the time, was good for P1.
Gil de Ferran: "We are reasonably satisfied with our qualifying today. Taku was the first out in the session and as predicted he found very little grip; nevertheless we had taken this into account with our strategic considerations for the race. Jenson had a good clean run and we are cautiously optimistic for tomorrow, since he has been quite happy with the car balance."
Shuhei Nakamoto: "Not too bad. I think Jenson did a good lap and it was clear that Taku had problems by going out first. It has been a long and challenging season for everybody - not just the race team - and I want to have a good result to help our motivation during the winter. Next year must be better."
The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team scored its strongest qualifying result of the year this afternoon ahead of the season-ending Chinese Grand Prix, with an all-Renault front row at the Shanghai International Circuit. Fernando Alonso took his sixth pole position of the year, and the seventh for the team, with a clean, fast lap, while Giancarlo Fisichella will line up alongside his team-mate after an equally strong performance. Both drivers were happier with the balance of their car today, and able to attack with confidence on their qualifying laps. Looking ahead to tomorrow, the team is now in the strongest possible position to put pressure on McLaren and take the fight to them in the battle to secure the constructors' title. The Renault F1 Team is also proud to have scored Michelin's 100th F1 pole position this afternoon.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: After a season as successful as ours has been in 2005, this is a great way to finish the final qualifying session of the year, annexing the front row with Fernando and Giancarlo. Both drivers made progress with the balance of the car this morning, and were much happier by the time qualifying began. As always, though, we must think of qualifying not as a separate challenge in terms of our strategy, but as the first lap of the race. We will have to see how the strategies pan out tomorrow, but before this weekend, we promised to take the fight to McLaren and keep the pressure on them. Without a doubt, that is what we are doing.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Operations: Qualifying is only the beginning of the story when it comes to getting a good result, but it is still a special moment to secure an all-Renault front row, something we have not achieved this season, and only once since Renault returned to F1 in 2002. I think our performance in Japan demonstrated we have made progress relative to the competition, and this qualifying session confirmed it again. We have worked well throughout practice to prepare for the race in our normal way, and the E spec of the RS25 has run without any problems at all. The numbers show we are competitive in terms of our straightline speed, and also lap-time. The fight against McLaren tomorrow will be tough, but we have taken advantage in the best possible way of Montoya's early running slot, and we are ready for a tough battle tomorrow.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: We are delighted to have scored Michelin's 100th pole, appropriately with Fernando, the first Michelin world champion since their return to Formula 1.We now hope we can bring them another win tomorrow to crown a fantastic 2005 season for Michelin and Renault.
The BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers Mark Webber and Antonio Pizzonia will start from the 10th and 13th positions respectively for the season- closing Grand Prix of China. Antonio Pizzonia was out early for his qualifying lap which didn't help him to achieve a starting position at the front, while Webber made a mistake in the last sector, while pushing hard for a good lap.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): It was a disappointing qualifying session after we have been really strong in practice with high fuel loads. We struggled a little with our tyre warm-up, however we are happy with our tyre choice so I'm sure that our race pace will be good tomorrow. The final race of the season is going to be interesting with regards to the pit strategies.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): The outcome of qualifying does not reflect our expectetions. Due to his early starting position, Antonio found a slippery track. Mark was doing well but his mistake in the penultimate corner probably lost him a place on the third row. There were no problems on the technical side.
Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya will start tomorrow's 56-lap Chinese Grand Prix from third and fifth after setting times of 1:34.488 and 1:35.188 in today's qualifying session. In order to claim the 2005 Constructors' World Championship Team McLaren Mercedes needs to finish two points ahead of Renault. If both teams finish with the same number of points, Team McLaren Mercedes will take the title, as the Championship is awarded to the holder of the greatest number of wins.
Ron Dennis: "We came here to win the race and that is what we intend to do. As always it's strategy that counts. Both drivers did a great job, but a small mistake by Kimi possibly cost him a front row position. Juan Pablo's lap was exceptional considering the circuit conditions. The whole team is looking forward to tomorrow."
Norbert Haug: "Our positions to start the race from could be a little bit better. However they are quite different from last weekend's. We believe that we have the right strategy, and there have been quite a few races in the past where we have won from lesser grid positions."
Sauber drivers Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve will start tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai from 11th and 16th positions respectively after this afternoon's qualifying session.
Peter Sauber (Team Principal): "After our performance in practice this morning we did not go into qualifying in a very optimistic frame of mind. But Felipe managed a really good lap for 11th place after we made some changes to his car. Jacques still struggled with his set-up, and I am sure he is disappointed with his lap."
Following yesterday's puncture, Christian Klien only participated in today's fourth practice session, having effectively lost one of his permitted four sets of tyres. His team-mate David Coulthard participated in both sessions and was on the pace, setting the fifth fastest time, behind the McLarens and Renaults. In qualifying, David was seventh fastest, while Christian was 14th. The duo will line up in the same positions tomorrow for the start of the Chinese Grand Prix.
Christian Horner, Sporting Director: Having lost a set of tyres following yesterday's puncture, Christian only had one further set available, which we decided to use in today's fourth practice session. In qualifying, David drove a good lap and set a competitive time. He's looked strong here all weekend and is now well placed for the race tomorrow. Christian had a bit of a scrappy lap and made a couple of mistakes, but he should be able to recover from that in the race and I think we're set for an interesting Grand Prix.
Panasonic Toyota Racing will head into tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix with two drivers in the top six rows of the grid after a solid performance in today's qualifying session. Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli will line up in 9th and 12th places respectively after both put in strong laps in trying conditions this afternoon. Ralf battled understeer to set his time while Jarno had to go out early in the session when the track was at its dustiest but he also held a good lap together. Toyota heads into Sunday's race holding 4th place in the constructors' championship and looking to round off the season with another points finish.
Ralf Schumacher will line up in 9th place on the grid for tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix after a strong qualifying lap.
Jarno Trulli had to go out early in the session with the track at its dirtiest but he put in a decent lap to take 12th.
In the wake of today's qualifying session, Toyota will push to round off the season with a double points finish.
Mike Gascoyne – Technical Director Chassis: "That was a reasonable result for the team after a good effort by the drivers. It's been a difficult day with a lack of grip and the drivers were struggling to find a balance with the car. That, combined with the fact that Jarno had to go out so early, means that given the strategy we have we can be reasonably pleased with our grid positions. We've found it difficult to get the tyres to work properly this weekend, so we will just have to wait and see how the track evolves for tomorrow in the race. Now we have to try to convert this result into getting two cars into the points."
Jordan Grand Prix drivers Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan carried on their usual technical programme during this morning's final two practice sessions. They particularly focused on further improving the balance of the chassis to cope with the demands of the Shanghai International Circuit. Both made steady progress, as shown by the lap times set in the practice sessions. In the afternoon, Karthikeyan and Monteiro had good flying laps and qualified in 15th and 19th positions respectively for tomorrow's final race of the 2005 season.
Adrian Burgess: Narain and Tiago had very good laps today and the cars are on different strategies. Tiago has changed his strategy a little bit from this morning and his car felt a bit different, which probably cost him a position on the grid. However, for sure we should have been quicker than Minardi with both cars as we have been most of the year really.
The final qualifying session of the 2005 Formula One season saw Minardi F1 Team driver, Christijan Albers, secure 18th position on the grid for tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix, and team mate, Robert Doornbos, the 20th spot. Doorbos encountered a transmission problem at the beginning of Saturday's first morning practice, but some inspired work by the Minardi mechanics saw the gearbox replaced in just over 30 minutes, and Doornbos back on track before the session had ended. Despite the grid positions, however, the Faenza squad has high hopes for tomorrow's race, particularly as engine partner, Cosworth, has developed a new, more aggressive engine mode specifically for this event.
Paul Stoddart, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth: Despite a gearbox problem with Robert's car in the first of today's two practice sessions, the team completed its technical programme in preparation for tomorrow's Grand Prix of China. Qualifying did not go quite as we had expected; however, both cars are carrying a heavy fuel load, which will hopefully pay dividends in the race.
After the haze of Friday, Saturday's morning practice sessions and afternoon qualifying took place in warm sunny conditions ahead of tomorrow's China Grand Prix, the final round of the season. Bridgestone shod Michael Schumacher has the most to fight for tomorrow as he lies just two points ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya in the drivers' points standings. The final showdown for third place in the championship comes in Sunday's 56-lap race and it looks set to be a thriller. Montoya set the fifth fastest time today, just 0.113 seconds ahead of the seven time World Champion and they are set to line up on the grid side by side. Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello qualified in eighth place while Jordan's Narain Karthikeyan heads the remaining Bridgestone runners, a Sauber and a BAR, setting a time good enough for 15th place. The stage is set for the season's grand finale in Shanghai.
Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport: "Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello showed today that they have the potential for a good race tomorrow. Qualifying in sixth and eighth positions gives them a good chance. From a tyre point of view this circuit can be tough on wear but things look fine at the moment and we are not expecting to have heat durability problems. Ferrari look in reasonable shape for the race. For the Jordan and Minardi teams today was their last qualifying under their current banners. Narain Karthikeyan qualified a solid 15th which should give him a good start tomorrow. His teammate Tiago Monteiro ran wide in the last sector so today's time was not a true reflection of his time. I look forward also to seeing Christijan Albers and Robert Doornbos have a good race tomorrow."
Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: "We had two reasonable laps from the drivers in this afternoon's qualifying session. We could perhaps have squeezed a couple of tenths more but we qualified where we expected. Bridgestone's tyres held up and we have a good strategy for tomorrow's race. Generally things were pretty good today."
Fernando Alonso (Renault) has taken Michelin's 18th pole position of the season – and the 100th in the company's illustrious Formula One history. The 2005 world champion lapped the Shanghai International Circuit in 1m 34.080s to outpace team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella by 0.321s and take the ninth F1 pole of his career. Kimi Raikkonen will line up third for Michelin partner McLaren Mercedes, while Michelin drivers Jenson Button, Juan Pablo Montoya, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher and Mark Webber have also qualified in the top 10.
Kimi Raikkonen was fastest in this morning's final free practice sessions. The Finn lapped in 1m 33.212s – 0.342s clear of team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya.
After missing part of yesterday's free practice when a suspension problem caused him to spin, Williams driver Antonio Pizzonia was in the wars again this morning. He missed part of the first morning session after running off the track at Turn Nine.
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director: "This 100th F1 pole is a nice way to sign off my career. Life has changed considerably over the years – I remember in 1979 that we'd bring 12 sets of qualifying tyres per car to each race, six batches of two different compounds! We were very successful in those days but have also mastered the more restrictive regulations of recent seasons.
"Our 'prime' and 'option' tyres will both feature in tomorrow's grand prix. Thus far we haven't been generating particularly spectacular first- lap performance – but our speed and consistency over long runs has been excellent."
Nick Shorrock, director of Michelin F1 activities: "Track temperatures still haven't reached the levels we were anticipating and our engineers have put in a fantastic amount of effort to fine-tune set-ups that improved operating conditions for our tyres. We would prefer slightly higher temperatures tomorrow, but in the circumstances I've been very pleased with our performance and would like to thank the whole group for its unstinting hard work. It is also fitting that we are celebrating our 100th F1 pole position ahead of Pierre's final race – a significant landmark at the end of a long and very distinguished career."
Pat Symonds, executive engineering director, Renault F1 Team: "Michelin provided us with two very competitive dry-weather compounds this weekend and it wasn't easy to make a final selection. That is a tribute to the quality of its products. Whatever the outcome tomorrow, the whole 2005 season has been a testament to the high standard of Michelin's work."
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