19/03/2005
NEWS STORY
It was a reasonable First Qualifying session for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld, who set the 6th and 8th fastest times today respectively.
Mark Webber: I am fairly happy with my lap today. This circuit has been good to me in the past, so hopefully we can get a good grid position tomorrow and then run to the flag and collect a positive result. After a frustrating day yesterday when I didn't get any running in the afternoon, it's good to get into the top six today. Also it looks like Michelin are doing a better job than the opposition at the moment so we think we should have a good race tomorrow on our tyres.
Nick Heidfeld: I am quite pleased with my qualifying lap. The balance of my car wasn't ideal in a couple of corners and I lost a little bit of time there, but the track was still dirty when I went out, so all in all it was a pretty good lap. I am also pleased I was faster than Michael's Ferrari, especially because we ran under exactly the same track conditions. I have a good feeling about tomorrow's qualifying and race since I completed some good long runs yesterday and we had a productive Free Practice this morning. The new aerodynamic parts we have brought out here seem to be a good improvement.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): We have had a reasonable day today. We have made some more aerodynamic improvements to the FW27. However, everything in Formula One is relative to your competitors and we are still pushing hard to improve. The race is going to be interesting, in particular on the cooling side because the temperatures are so hot. Tyre degradation and wear management will be a key factor to a successful race tomorrow.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): Both the drivers had an ordinary lap with no major problems. Considering our current performance, their positions meet our expectations. It will be interesting to see the comparison between all competitors in the second qualifying tomorrow, with full tanks. Technically it all worked well.