10/07/2004
NEWS STORY
The rain showers that threatened the track in qualifying did not materialise during the session so with the exception of pole position, a quite typical 2004 grid was formed with Nick Heidfeld and Giorgio Pantano lining up in 15th and 17th positions.
Giorgio Pantano: I'm kind of pleased with my lap but I made a mistake in the second sector at Abbey and if it wasn't for that I would have been a bit quicker. I was slightly nervous about the weather before going out as I went out late and we were concerned about rain - but I was fortunate. We have done quite a lot of testing here so I'm confident with the track and also with the car. Tomorrow we have a good set-up for the race, I think. It would be good for the team and the fans if we got a good result here. Last night I went to the Jordan fan village at the factory and it was fantastic to see how much support we have and I really enjoyed meeting fans. I'm going back for another quick visit this evening.
Nick Heidfeld: I'm not really satisfied with my lap: I got some graining on the tyres towards the end and therefore missed the apex on one of the corners, losing quite a bit of lap time. Our forecast said there was a high chance of rain during qualifying and I was hoping it would, as I went out early in the session. We are in good shape, definitely better than Magny Cours. We did a long run yesterday and a few weeks ago we tested and sorted out our tyres. We are better prepared and happier with the tyre choice.
James Robinson: It was an exciting qualifying session with the threat of rain looming throughout. In the first session we chose to cover all options with our strategy - one car going at the beginning and one at the end to include the possibilities of rain showers arriving either early or late and maybe with the track drying out towards the end. Some rather ‘interesting' driving was demonstrated in the first session which I assume was part of other team's strategies. As it panned out, it stayed dry and we were 16th and 17th although with Alonso losing 10 places following his engine change, Giorgio moves up. We had no problems except the high cross winds in the session and it was just about watching the skies and seeing if and when the rain would come.