It was a disapppointing qualifying session for the BMW Sauber F1 Team, as neither Jacques Villeneuve nor Nick Heidfeld made it into the top ten on the grid for the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola.

Jacques Villeneuve: I am very disappointed because less than two tenths of a second was P5 and I know there was that time in the car. The second lap was quick, but the yellow flags caught us out. That really does your race and finishing P5 or P12 in the session means the difference between finishing on the podium or not. It is a little bit rough but we are at the wrong end of the tenths today big time.

Nick Heidfeld: I really wanted to make it into the top ten and tried everything I knew, but lost the rear of the car and went into the tyres, which unfortunately has damaged the car quite badly. All in all qualifying was disappointing, especially as I felt good after the results of the three free practice sessions yesterday and today. With new tyres I just could not get the necessary grip, but the positive side is I fell well again yesterday after my stomach problems yesterday.

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): It was a very exciting qualifying session with very close gaps between the drivers’ times, but unfortunately we had to watch the breathtaking final 20 minutes as spectators. Jacques missed the top ten by just over a tenth of a second, whereas Nick never managed to get the lap time we expected. He complained about lack of grip and on his last lap tried too hard and lost control of the car. The times are closer than we have seen before, as between fifth and Jacques’ 12th position there is only seventeen hundredths of a second.

Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis): Obviously we expected more from qualifying. We knew it would have been very hard to make the top ten in this close competition. Now we have to adjust our race strategy accordingly, but we are confident we can repeat the performance we found in our long runs on Friday.