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2006 Malaysia GP
Team Quotes - Saturday 18 March
The second ‘super-pole' style qualifying session of the 2006 Formula 1 season, held in sweltering conditions this afternoon at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, once again saw the Renault F1 Team experience mixed fortunes during the hour. While Giancarlo Fisichella raced to pole position, a fuel rig problem between Heat 2 and the Super-Pole session left Fernando Alonso disadvantaged during the final twenty-minute session.
The World Champion qualified eighth, but will start seventh – and on the cleaner side of the grid – once Michael Schumacher's Ferrari has been demoted ten places following an engine change this morning. With the Michelin tyres performing strongly in the oppressive heat, the team is optimistic that Giancarlo can aim for the race win, while Fernando will be looking to recover from his qualifying difficulties to score a maximum number of points.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: It was fantastic for Giancarlo to grab pole in a very busy and exciting session. His performance this afternoon shows not just the innate performance of the R26, but also his own personal strength of character to bounce back from a difficult weekend in Bahrain. Unfortunately, Fernando was unable to make use of the car's full potential through no fault of his own. We suffered a problem with the fuel rigs which has meant his car does not have the optimum fuel load in it.
Denis Chevrier, Head of Trackside Engine Operations: It is always very satisfying to be on pole, and Giancarlo drove an excellent lap this afternoon in the high-pressure moments of the final session. From the team's perspective, we are in a similar situation to that we encountered in Sakhir, as our two cars were unable to express their full performance this afternoon after the fuel rig problem encountered by Fernando. From the engine's point of view, we have not had any unexpected incidents, and our measurements show that the car is coping well with the hot conditions, in terms of our choice of cooling level and gear ratios. We are ready for an aggressive race tomorrow, and starting from the front row, we have every hope of fighting for the win. As for Fernando, we have seen on numerous occasions that he is capable of extraordinary performances from less than ideal grid positions.
Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen finished qualifying for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix in sixth and seventh position respectively after setting times of 1:34.916 and 1:34.983 in the final session. Qualifying took place in ambient temperatures of 38 degrees Celsius with track temperatures souring to 51 degrees. In the first session Juan Pablo set the fastest time with 1:34.536, with Kimi's lap of 1:34.667 being second. The second session saw Kimi finish with the fifth fastest time of 1:34.351 whilst Juan Pablo's time of 1:34.568 was the eighth fastest. Juan Pablo and Kimi will start from fifth and sixth on the grid tomorrow after Michael Schumacher will drop 10 places from fourth following an engine change.
Ron Dennis: "We are very comfortable with the outcome of today's qualifying session and we look forward to our race strategy unfolding."
Norbert Haug: "With Juan Pablo starting in fifth and Kimi in sixth position both our cars are in good position for tomorrow's race. With our strategy we should be in good shape."
Jean Todt: "Considering our decision to have Felipe start from the back of the grid, our qualifying session was basically with only one car. This decision was taken so as to let him start the race tomorrow with a fresh engine, lots of fuel on board and new tyres. Michael was also obliged to change his engine and he'll be starting from the sixth row after having gone well in qualifying. Tomorrow is going to be a very tough race with reliability and a consistent tyre performance being the decisive factors. The championship has only just begun but even if we are now going through a difficult moment with the reliability of the V8 engine, what is important is to try and pick up as many points as possible. All kinds of things can happen for us tomorrow, but this is true for the others as well."
Ross Brawn: "This is very frustrating for us. We have had various problems with the engine but we'll get over them. I'm convinced of that. It's a pity, because during all the winter testing we were very reliable. Considering the amount of fuel that Michael had on board because of the ten-position penalty, his qualifying session went quite well. The tyres seem to be very consistent in their performance. We can expect a tough race but we'll do everything possible to finish in the points."
Panasonic Toyota Racing goes into tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix with hope of a strong performance despite a disappointing result in today's qualifying. At a sweltering Sepang circuit on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, the Toyota cars showed improved pace compared to last week's Bahrain Grand Prix. Unfortunately Ralf Schumacher suffered an engine failure when he was challenging strongly for the top ten so he will start from the back row of the grid. Jarno Trulli was suffering from understeer, managing 13th quickest in Session 2 but he will start from 9th place due to a number of engine changes by the higher finishers. Toyota will now push hard to salvage a strong result in the race.
Mike Gascoyne – Technical Director Chassis: "Ultimately that was a disappointing end to qualifying, but we also showed a lot of promise. The cars today looked much more competitive than we were in Bahrain, and the level of performance we showed is pretty much what we expected from the car before the season started. We made the tyre work better than in Bahrain by a combination of changes we made and the conditions here. Unfortunately Ralf's engine failure means that he couldn't improve after one lap of the second session. Jarno lost some set-up time this morning so we have to accept the blame for him not being in the top ten. Despite the results, it was very good to show that when we have the tyre working we have a competitive package. We now have to make sure we do that 100 percent of the time. Tomorrow we have to look for a strong performance and aim to pick up points."
Sam Michael, Technical Director, WilliamsF1: "It's great for the team to have both cars on the second row of the grid in only the second Grand Prix with our new partners Cosworth & Bridgestone, especially on such an aero-dominated circuit. The qualifying session second time around was a lot calmer as we have had a chance to review the various strategies employed and we ran a slightly different strategy between our cars in terms of tyre use. Nico's lap was fantastic, particularly considering this is only his second GP. Mark drove well and will be well-placed to benefit in tomorrow's race. Everything looks solid on the car for tomorrow reliability-wise and our lap times on long runs look really strong, so we are looking forward to a good race. Just as in Bahrain, it's great to be the fastest Bridgestone team again."
Bernard Ferguson, Cosworth: "We're delighted that the promise seen in Bahrain is continuing and pleased of course to be third and fourth on the grid, even more pleased to have achieved this with the same engines as there have been a lot of changes elsewhere this weekend."
The Honda Racing F1 Team's Jenson Button will start tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix from the front row of the grid after posting the 2nd fastest time in today's action-packed qualifying session. After a solid morning of free
practice running, Jenson was happy with the set-up of his Honda and fired up for the crucial knock-out hour. He missed out on pole by just 0.1 sec.
On the opposite side of the garage, Rubens Barrichello has been uncomfortable with the set-up of his RA106 all weekend then suffered an engine problem in this morning's free practice. Faced with a ten place relegation, the team had nothing to lose and decided to switch to the T-car chassis with a fresh engine. Rubens' early pace demonstrated that although he was happier with the new chassis it was not enough and he just missed out on session 3 qualification by 0.1 sec to end the day 12th. However, his engine change puts him further back on the grid.
Gil de Ferran: "We are delighted with Jenson's qualifying session; starting on the front row certainly bodes well for tomorrow. The performance was a real team effort as not only did Jenson do a stellar job behind the wheel but our engineers managed to improve the car tremendously from yesterday. Unfortunately Rubens had a difficult day. We had to change his engine prior to qualifying after a small problem developed in the late stages of free practice and we were unable to adapt the set-up of the car to his liking. We will continue to work hard with Rubens and believe he can still have a good race."
Shuhei Nakamoto: "We had a tough day today but I am very pleased that we got Jenson on to the front row of the grid. I would like to thank the team for their hard work in making that possible. Regarding Rubens, he felt down on power at the end of this morning's free practice session. We located a problem and decided to change the engine, but we were obviously unable to work on the set-up before qualifying. We are very disappointed for Rubens but we will do our utmost to give both drivers the best possible chance in tomorrow's race."
Despite collecting a ten-place grid penalty for an engine change, David Coulthard was on the pace in the first part of today's qualifying. With just seconds of the first session remaining, David and team-mate Christian Klien leapt up the leaderboard and set the third and seventh fastest time respectively, enough to continue in part two. In the second session, Christian was sixth and went through to the final qualifying sector, but DC finished eleventh fastest and narrowly missed out. Christian went on to finish ninth fastest.
Christian Horner, Sporting Director: "A pretty positive day today – we qualified ninth and eleventh, but obviously David has his penalty that he has to take and Christian will move up a place, but on low fuel we certainly looked competitive. In the final session with Christian, we elected to take a strategic approach to the race rather than focusing on lap time. With Michael getting his penalty, eighth is a decent place to be starting from and we're looking forward to tomorrow."
BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld qualified 14th and 15th respectively for the PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang. Because some competitors will lose places on the grid due to engine changes, Villeneuve will start from grid position 10, Heidfeld from 12.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): Five to six teams were fighting for the top positions. They were much closer together than before. But we had still expected to make it into the top 10. In the end we missed it by a few tenths of a second. Jacques was not happy with his lap and complained about the level of grip. Nick got stuck in traffic on his quick lap. Nevertheless, I am convinced the new qualifying procedure is a winner for drivers, teams and the fans.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis): A disappointing result. In the second part of qualifying the times were very close and in a situation such as that if you don't get everything just right, you are out. As we will make some places on the grid, we will adapt our race strategy accordingly.
Adrian Burgess, Sporting Director: "It's been a difficult weekend so far, dealing with a new engine formula, and being the second weekend of the first two-race cycle has been challenging for a lot of teams. We've had a few mechanical problems, which we're trying our hardest to get under control but then again, we're not alone in that regard and we'll be quite happy starting 15th and 16th on the grid tomorrow, if I'm not mistaken. We still have a lot of hard work to do, but if we can give our drivers two cars that can get to the flag, they'll have a good afternoon's race in front of them. We've just got to keep our heads down, improve the car, improve our reliability, and see where we end up."
Gabriele Tredozi (Technical Director): "It is disappointing that we did not get any further than the first part of the session, even though we got quite close to doing so. Even so, this should not reflect on the team or the drivers, who all did a good job this afternoon. On the plus side, I think we are looking good for the race in terms of our tyre and fuel strategy. The race here is always tough one and I think that could work out quite well for us."
Super Aguri drivers Takuma Sato and Yuji Ide will be starting the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix amongst the big guns in the sport. Honda engine reliability has ensured that both Taku and Yuji, although qualifying at the bottom of the table today, will be splitting some of the racing pairs from the Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, Toyota and Honda Racing F1 teams when they arrive on the grid for the start of the race tomorrow.
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal: "There hasn't been a big problem with the car so far, so I am relatively happy. We tried different set-ups this morning for qualifying and the race and we have a number of directions to decide upon tonight.
"We still have a lot of small issues to solve however we are learning so much more about the car by fixing those issues. Our qualifying time is similar to that in Bahrain, but we have more data from the car, so I hope that we will do little better than the last race. Takuma has familiarised himself with the characteristics of the car and is handling it well. Yuji was running our new front wing this afternoon was trying to get the feel for it. He of course still has a lot to learn, but he is doing well and the team has been doing a great job."
Formula 1 rookie Nico Rosberg and his WilliamsF1 teammate, Mark Webber, will line up on the second row of the grid for tomorrow's 56-lap Malaysian Grand Prix after an impressively consistent qualifying display this afternoon which saw them set the third and fifth fastest times respectively in the final shoot-out. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher was fourth fastest but both he and his teammate, Felipe Massa, have been blighted by engine problems this weekend, both receiving grid penalties. The Toyota team has also had its fair share of problems this weekend but is undoubtedly looking stronger than in Bahrain. For MF1 Racing and Super Aguri it was a tough qualifying with neither making it into the second session but they too will be looking for a strong race tomorrow.
Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager - Bridgestone Motorsport: "Three cars in the top five is a very promising start to the weekend and is a good indication that the Bridgestone teams will be strong tomorrow. The drivers experienced extremely hot conditions, particularly in the third part of the qualifying session, but the tyres worked well in these tough conditions. Congratulations to Nico Rosberg, who will line up on the second row of the grid – and to his teammate, Mark Webber, who will actually line up alongside him. The Ferrari pair will be strong tomorrow but have had to contend with engine penalties so will have a hard race. The Toyota pair has been looking stronger this weekend. Ralf Schumacher was unfortunate to end his qualifying with an engine failure but I think he had the potential to be up with the other Bridgestone runners. All in all, we are happy with the performance of the Bridgestone tyres and the outcome of qualifying."
Sam Michael, Technical Director - WilliamsF1: "A fantastic qualifying performance with both cars on the second row in only our second GP with our new partners – Cosworth and Bridgestone. Nico is in the top three in his second ever GP. We had slightly different strategies for Mark and Nico in qualifying in terms of tyre use and should be strong in the race tomorrow based on the lap times from our long runs in practice. The tyres have been solid all week-end, Bridgestone has done a great job and I think we can be strong enough to win tomorrow."
Ross Brawn, Technical Director - Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: "Obviously today is frustrating given the problems we have at the moment. We will get over them but it's disappointing ahead of the Australian GP. The car seems good and considering our chosen strategy due to the grid penalties Michael's time is a good one. The tyres are consistent and it looks as if the Bridgestone runners will be competitive here. We shall be looking to consolidate and get some points."
Giancarlo Fisichella has qualified fastest for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix – the third pole position of his Formula One career and Michelin's 101st. The Italian lapped in 1m 33.840s to pip Jenson Button by just 0.146s as Michelin drivers locked out the front row of the grid.
Juan Pablo Montoya, Kimi Raikkonen, world championship leader Fernando Alonso and Christian Klien complete a list of six Michelin drivers in the top 10.
Nick Shorrock, Michelin Formula One director: "We have been working very effectively with all our partners– and the fact there are different Michelin chassis on the front row underlines as much. This is obviously a very pleasing result and it will be interesting to see the race strategies unfold tomorrow.
"I think we could see cars making one, two or three stops. The track has changed quite significantly since the start of the meeting – yesterday's graining problems have vanished completely and we have no worries about undue wear or blistering/ "There are three different types of Michelin in the race– all are quite similar in nature and they have responded exactly as we hoped they would to the prevailing conditions. The temperatures might be a little cooler in the race than they were in qualifying, given the three o'clock start, but we still anticipate track temperatures of 40-50 degrees."
Pat Symonds, executive engineering director, Renault F1 Team: "Many people were wondering where the balance of power might lie in the tyre war when we reached the hotter circuits. By annexing the front row today, I think Michelin has gone a long way towards answering that question."
Fernando Alonso was the fastest Michelin runner in this morning's final free practice session. He lapped in 1m 34.180s – 0.054s adrift of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari.
Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello will be given 10- position grid penalties in tomorrow's race following unscheduled engine changes.
Scott Speed, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Christijan Albers, Tiago Monteiro, Takuma Sato and Yuji Ide were eliminated during the first part of the knock-out qualifying session. The second round accounted for David Coulthard, Rubens Barrichello, Jarno Trulli, Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld. Felipe Massa did not run during the session and is expected to make a second unscheduled engine, which will earn him a 20-position grid penalty.
Ralf Schumacher missed the third and final sector of the qualifying session after suffering a spectacular engine blow-up on the pit straight. The German had qualified 10th for the top-10 shoot-out.
Jenson Button set the fastest qualifying lap overall – a 1m 33.527s during the second part of the session.
Rookie Nico Rosberg has qualified third fastest for what will be only his second world championship start.
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