28/08/2004
NEWS STORY
Sauber drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa will start tomorrow's Belgian Grand Prix from fifth and eighth positions respectively after this afternoon's qualifying sessions. This is the team's best qualifying result of the season.
Giancarlo Fisichella: "Given that the rain spoiled our chances of a really high grid placing today, I think fifth is a very strong performance. But I feel unlucky that just before I went out we had to switch from wets to extreme wets as the rain increased. That cost us performance, for sure. In the dry yesterday we were very strong, however, so I am optimistic for the race as the forecast predicts a dry day tomorrow."
Felipe Massa: "Between Juan Pablo Montoya and our runs the track got much wetter, so we were rather unlucky today. By the time I went out for my qualifying lap the track was completely wet and I got lots of wheelspin whenever I encountered any white lines. But I am quite happy in such extraordinary circumstances with eighth place, because I know that we have a good set-up, wet or dry, for the race tomorrow. It's good that both cars are comfortably in the top 10, and I'm really looking forward to scoring some points."
Peter Sauber (Team Principal): "It was a very strong qualifying session for us. Congratulations to Giancarlo and Felipe, and to the team for developing such a strong car. Thanks, too, to Bridgestone for their tyres. We actually had bad luck, however, as the rain worsened just before Giancarlo and Felipe went out. I believe that each of them will start a row further back than they really deserve to. Nevertheless, we are looking forward to a strong race performance whatever the conditions."