23/05/2009
NEWS STORY
In a tactically critical qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix, the AT&T Williams team secured two top ten grid slots, with Kazuki Nakajima equalling a career-best tenth place start for tomorrow's race. Meanwhile, team-mate Nico Rosberg professed himself less than happy by finishing the session on the third row of the provisional grid, but is nonetheless confident of a strong race performance at his home Grand Prix.
Nico Rosberg: The first two sessions went fine today, but I was not happy with the final conclusion in Q3. P6 was not where I wanted to be and it should have been better. I had some balance problems in the last run and some traffic, particularly with Barrichello on my fastest lap, so I didn't manage to make the best of the circumstances. Anyway, that's the way it has played out and we just need to make the best of it. There is still the opportunity to have a good race tomorrow from a reasonable starting position, so I am still of the view that anything is possible.
Kazuki Nakajima: It was a good session for me, it is of course the first time I have made it into Q3 this season, so I do want to say thanks to the team for preparing a good car. I am pleased that I achieved a top ten slot as obviously grid position is crucial here and this is not a very easy track. I am confident I can have a good race tomorrow and our start position will certainly give me the chance to improve on our recent results.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: The car performance was strong today but unfortunately we didn't get the best out of Q3 with Nico. Kazuki had no more option tyres to use in the final session, hence his P10 position and different strategy. It is good to have both cars in Q3 and we look forward to racing for points tomorrow.