02/07/2005
NEWS STORY
Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld will both start from the midfield for tomorrow's French Grand Prix, having qualified 13th and 14th respectively today.
Mark Webber: We have been trying to make the car go faster every session, but clearly we don't have the pace to be at the front here. The car is reliable and doesn't feel too bad, which is clearly positive, but this weekend so far has been a tough one for us. It's a shame but we will now work hard for tomorrow in order to try and get some points. I hope our strategy will pay off in the race.
Nick Heidfeld: I would have thought we'd been a bit quicker today. The car felt good yesterday, especially in the high-speed corners, but we are not satisfied with our lap times. My qualifying lap was all right, even though I went out very early when the track was still slow. We should be stronger in the race, as has been the case at some other races this season, and this is what I hope for tomorrow. Also the weather for Sunday looks favourable for us, since higher temperatures are expected, and this should help our tyres.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): Normally we would have hoped for a better qualifying result. We have made some progress on set-up but we have generally struggled here to get the best out of the car. Now we will see where everyone is once the strategies come into play tomorrow. It looks like it could be quite warm on race day. Our long runs during practice were reasonable so we will be fighting for points tomorrow.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): As early as free practice it became apparent that our team wouldn't be amongst the front runners here this year. The lap times and drivers' comments bore out what was confirmed by today's qualifying result. Now both drivers need to try to improve positions during the race in order to collect a few points for the team. There is nothing special to report from the engine side.