05/03/2005
NEWS STORY
The first qualifying session of the season was strongly affected by changeable weather and track conditions, which saw some cars going out under warm sunshine and a drying track and some under pouring rain. BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld, who both set their lap times at the beginning of the session when the wet tarmac was drying out, set the 3rd and 7th fastest times respectively of the first qualifying session. Today's times will be aggregated with those of tomorrow morning's final qualifying session to establish the starting grid positions for the first Grand Prix of the 2005 season.
Mark Webber: It was a tricky session today, with the track actually changing before my eyes. Not typical Australian weather, really! Anyway I am happy with my lap and I am happy I put it behind me when the track was drying. It's been tough to get the car right for qualifying, as you've got to pick the right tyre, the right tyre pressures, the correct balance and one lap is not easy on anyone, neither drivers or engineers. In such conditions it's very easy to look stupid, if you get it wrong. I can say now I am halfway through my qualifying attempt I am going to sleep well tonioght and will finish it off tomorrow.
Nick Heidfeld: I wasn't happy with my lap because I went wide and consequently off track at turn 12, and lost quite some time there, but in hindsight I must admit it wasn't bad as the track was still dry. We decided to use intermediate tyres and that was definitely the right choice for the track conditions at that time. Let's see now what the weather conditions will be like tomorrow for the second qualifying.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): Obviously it was an interesting day with the weather. Both our cars ran before the track was at its driest so we took intermediate tyres for both of them. With today's result we are in a good position for tomorrow's second qualifying. The reliability of our cars is good and we are looking forward to consolidate our position for tomorrow's race.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): The first qualifying session of the 2005 season was a spectacular weather roulette the results of which were not representative of true car potential. Gaps from position eight onwards are so big that it is unlikely that the time could be made up in Sunday's qualifying. That means that we are going to have a very interesting starting line up for the race. Both our drivers achieved relatively good positions. From the technical side there were no problems today.