29/07/2006
NEWS STORY
Jean Todt: It was a very closely contested qualifying, especially in the final part when the drivers were fighting not only for pole but also to get the best track position from which to produce a quick lap. We are satisfied with this result, which sees us with one driver on the front row and the other on the second. Both Michael and Felipe produced a great performance and both the 248 F1 and the Bridgestone tyres were up to the task in hand. Now we come to the most important part of the weekend, which is of course the race. The factors that will decide the finishing order are the usual ones: reliability, tyre performance, team work, strategy and of course the performance of those at the wheel. With seven races to go to the end of the championship and with the gap we need to close up in both championships, it is clear what are our objectives. I hope with all my heart that we can reach them, both tomorrow and come the end of the season.
Michael Schumacher: We know we can count on a very strong car-engine-Bridgestone tyre which should give us a good race pace, so we can be confident for tomorrow. We had no problems at all and things have gone well all weekend. The track will still rubber in a bit more, especially as it rained yesterday. My somewhat aggressive entry into the pits? Nothing strange, I was just in a hurry, but I had a bit of graining which prevented me from pulling off the manoeuvre the way I wanted, but in the end nothing happened and that was also the case when it comes to the incident with Fernando in Q3. In certain situations, for example when you are changing tyres at the same time as your team-mate, you cannot see everything clearly and you have to rely on the team as to when to pull away from the pit stop. Even though I have not had that much success in this race in the past, Hockenheim is one of my favourite dates on the calendar and I'm looking forward to racing tomorrow in front of so many of my fans.
Felipe Massa: Third place is definitely not bad, but I felt I could have done better. I had expected to be fighting for pole, after the car felt very strong on old tyres in this morning's free practice. But at least the good pace I showed in race trim this morning means I can be optimistic for tomorrow. We have a very strong car- engine-Bridgestone tyre package and I hope everything turns out the way we expect it to, but the competition is very close so it will be a tough race.
Ross Brawn: We are happy with this qualifying result, although obviously we would have preferred to be on pole. However, with this format, the result of the third part of the session inevitably reflects the different strategies chosen by the teams. We think our cars proved to be very competitive, as can be seen from the times set in Q1 and Q2 and the Bridgestone tyres also worked well. Track conditions are steadily improving and they even changed during the qualifying hour. We are reasonably confident about tomorrow's race.
To check out our Hockenheim qualifying gallery, click here