02/04/2005
NEWS STORY
On one of the hottest days ever in the history of Formula 1, Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber achieved good starting positions for tomorrow's final qualifying, by setting the 4th and 6th fastest times respectively.
Nick Heidfeld: Not too bad, really. I didn't make any mistakes on my qualifying lap and I have earned myself a good starting position for tomorrow's second qualifying. After Mark was quickest this morning I thought we could really make it in to the top few positions for first qualifying. I know we have a good car and also our Michelin tyres have proved to be very consistent so far. Yesterday we achieved some good long runs and I think we can have a strong race tomorrow. It will be a tough one, because I cannot remember any race where it was so hot, really.
Mark Webber: The track conditions changed significantly from the morning sessions and the circuit was much slower when I went out for my qualifying lap. It was very hot and a bit windy, but still I put in a good lap. The team has done a very good job both in terms of providing new parts and by finding a good balance. The timing gap between the cars is very tight, which means that we cannot afford to make any mistakes in tomorrow's final qualifying. We could then aim to achieve a very good grid position.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): It was a good first qualifying from Mark and Nick who did not make any mistakes in difficult conditions. It looks like we are experiencing the hottest ambient temperatures we have ever raced in. Due to this reason, we have spent a lot of time in practice working on the cooling systems and strategy for the race. Now we have to finalise our grid positions in the second qualifying session and then we can look forward to the race.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): Looking at this afternoon's times it was evident that the track had become slower compared to this morning. The reason for this was the increased temperature that reached 42°C for the air and 55°C for the asphalt, topping the hottest temperatures we had two weeks ago in Malaysia. This means the engines are again reaching their heat limit. This weekend it is a true challenge especially for Nick's engine, which is the only engine in the whole field that has already endured the hot Malaysian race.