23/07/2005
NEWS STORY
Lucky Strike BAR Honda's Jenson Button will line up on the front row of the grid for the second successive race tomorrow after qualifying 2nd for the German Grand Prix. He split the McLaren of Kimi Raikonnen from his World Championship rival Fernando Alonso's Renault with a solid lap and is now aiming to keep both drivers well within his sights throughout tomorrow's 67-lap race.
His team-mate Takuma Sato did a great job to post the 8th fastest lap of the qualifying session, despite the disadvantage of being only the fifth driver out on track and therefore being unable to capitalise on the ever-improving track conditions.
Both drivers are optimistic about tomorrow's race for which the forecast of rain showers could conspire with some interesting grid positions to create a very exciting race.
Jenson Button: "I'm obviously delighted to be on the front row again - for the second race in a row. The team have done a fantastic job to make sure we took a step forward here after Silverstone and Honda have made good progress with the engine. It was a good lap for me today, although we did have a little too much front end on the car which meant I had a few moments, especially coming into the stadium. We have made progress since Silverstone but not quite enough to challenge the front runners yet, I don't think. We will be closer though and happy with that because it provides us with momentum to keep moving forward throughout the year. This is actually the first time I've started inside the top twelve here so it is nice to be on the front row and hopefully we can take advantage of that in the race tomorrow."
Takuma Sato: "I'm pleased with my lap considering that I was one of the first drivers out on the track. It's always a disadvantage running early in the session but I'm pleased with how it went. We had a good morning's preparation and I think our race pace and strategy should be good for tomorrow."
Gil de Ferran: "We are delighted with the qualifying results today. We experimented with different set-up ideas during the practice sessions, which allowed us to hit a good balance for qualifying. As is becoming customary, Jenson did a great job and we ended up a little ahead of where we anticipated, which should be helpful to our race strategy. Taku was hampered by his early qualifying order but did an equally impressive job. Michelin seems to have brought some very consistent tyres, as was evident by our drivers' long runs in practice, and the engine is also running really well. We are really looking forward to the race tomorrow."
Shuhei Nakamoto: "From our point of view the qualifying session went well with both guys doing a good job. We will see tomorrow when all the team strategies become clear."