McLaren
West McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen will start today's Monaco Grand Prix from pole position. This is Kimi's third consecutive pole position and the sixth of his career. The last time a West McLaren Mercedes driver had pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix was in 2001 (David Coulthard). Kimi's aggregate time was 2:30.323. Juan Pablo Montoya didn't take part in the qualifying session as he will have to start today's 78-lap race from the back of the grid following the decision by the stewards yesterday.
Kimi Raikkonen: "I'm obviously pleased to be on pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix where it matters more than most places. The car is working well and due to the gap from yesterday's qualifying session we have been able to adopt what will hopefully prove to be a strong race strategy. There is still a long race to go and as Monaco has shown in the past anything can happen here, but so far so good, and I'm looking forward to the race."
Juan Pablo Montoya: "It goes without saying that we are disappointed with the decision by the Stewards yesterday. However there is nothing we can do but to get on with the race where we will do our best to score some points. Although we have a strong package as Kimi's performance has shown I know that my race will be hard work."
Ron Dennis: "A satisfactory outcome to a qualifying session which reflected what we believe to be a strong race strategy. The decision to conserve the Michelin tyres and fuel on Juan Pablo's car was the logical step following yesterday's announcement by the Stewards."
Norbert Haug: "An excellent performance by Kimi achieving his third consecutive pole position. We expect our strategy to be very good. It's a shame for Juan Pablo to be at the wrong end of the grid due to the decision by the Stewards. Anyway he will give it everything to get into the points."
Sauber
TSauber drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Felipe Massa will start today's Monaco Grand Prix from ninth and 11th positions respectively after this morning's final qualifying session in which they were 11th and 10th fastest.
Jacques Villeneuve: "It was a pretty good session. I had hoped to be up behind David Coulthard because we make good starts, and it's a pity to lose a place to Michael, but the car was neutral in its behaviour so I'm reasonably happy. We always run stronger in the race than in qualifying and we have a good strategy, so let's see what happens."
Felipe Massa: "The track improved a lot during the session, and when I was out it was still very slippery. Like yesterday, it would have been easy to make a mistake but I had a good lap. I'm just going to go for it this afternoon, but I know it will be tough. Above all here, in this situation, the most important thing is to be there at the finish."
Minardi
The momentum continued for the Minardi F1 Team in the final official qualifying session for this afternoon's Monaco Grand Prix. Drivers Patrick Friesacher and Christijan Albers again put in excellent performances to consolidate their provisional grid positions, and will start today's event from 13th and 14th positions. Aside from the performance of Friesacher and Albers, team personnel are also very pleased to see that former Minardi drivers will occupy four of the top five starting positions on the grid for Formula One's most famous race.
Patrick Friesacher: That was quite a difficult lap for me and I was definitely on the limit in a few places. I think maybe the tyres were not quite warm enough when I was really pushing, and as a result, there wasn't as much grip as there should have been. I'm happy, though, that we have kept our grid positions – it's a good result for us.
Christijan Albers: It feels good, and I have a lot of confidence for today's race. We have found what we think is a good set-up for the race. It would be great if we could maybe surprise a few people this afternoon. The team's performance this weekend has been very good and everybody is really motivated, but we also have to keep our feet on the ground, not just for this race, but for the 13 that are still to come.
Red Bull
David Coulthard: It was okay, not a mega performance, but not bad. The team's working hard to get points so I hope to get a good result here. There were no big moments and, strategy wise, we'll find out in the race whether it was a good lap or not.
Tonio Liuzzi: The track was much better for this morning's run than it was yesterday when I was first out and it was dirty. Actually, I wasn't expecting it to be in such good condition. I think it was a good lap for me, I had more grip, which gave me more confidence and I was able to push. I had a small slide at Tabac Corner, but apart from that, it was okay. Overall I'm happy about the session and am just looking forward to the race.
WilliamsF1
In a race where grid position counts more than anywhere else, both the BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers look in good shape, with Mark Webber starting from third place, having confirmed his qualifiying place from yesterday and Nick Heidfeld starts from the third row, having set the 6th fastest time.
