By Jamie Makin
May 30 2004

Team SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa will start tomorrow´s Monaco Grand Prix from 10th and 16th places respectively after this afternoon´s qualifying sessions. Saturday, Qualifying 1:

Driver	Chassis	Best Time	Position
G. Fisichella	C23-04	1:14.814	5
F. Massa	C23-06	1:15.436	12
Spare Car	C23-01	-	-

Saturday, Qualifying 2:

Driver	Chassis	Best Time	Position
G. Fisichella	C23-04	1:15.352	10
F. Massa	C23-06	1:16.248	16
Spare Car	C23-01	-	-

For the third straight race, Giancarlo Fisichella set a blistering pace in pre-Qualifying. Today he ended the session in fifth, giving him the advantage of running late in the final session when the track has more grip. His final qualifying effort landed him tenth on the grid, but the team showed great elation at this accomplishment. This seems to indicate that he is running a heavy fuel load, and will perhaps make one less stop than the competition. A similar strategy helped him rocket up the grid in Spain for his first points of the season. No doubt he will be looking to repeat that again in tomorrow's race.

Giancarlo sounded quite pleased with his qualifying performance. "I´m pretty happy with the way things went this afternoon. It was a very good lap, apart from the first corner, Ste Devote, where I braked a little bit too late and locked the front wheels. Considering the level of fuel we have I am very satisfied. It is a great feeling to be right on our target here, especially as I love the Monaco circuit. Our tyre degradation was better today than on Thursday and it will be better still in the race, so I am optimistic I will be able to score some more points."

Peter Sauber confirmed the team's pleasure with Giancarlo's work. "Congratulations to Giancarlo. He was able to reach our target starting position. The 10th slot on the grid allows us to hope for a good race with a positive outcome."

Felipe Massa's continued to struggle with the car today, again finding it lacking in grip. That lack of grip combined with a few mistakes leaves him starting 16th in tomorrow's race. It will be a difficult battle for him, as the tight confines of the Monte Carlo street circuit make passing nearly impossible. "To be honest, I wasn´t very happy with my lap. The car did not feel as good as it did this morning. The balance was not stable and the handling was more nervous on turn-in," Felipe explains. " For sure I lost a lot of time up to the chicane. It wasn´t any one major thing, I just lacked grip all the way round. We´ll just have to see what happens tomorrow."

Peter Sauber knows the team face an uphill battle tomorrow with their young driver. "Unfortunately, Felipe was not as happy with his performance and was not able to achieve the place that he and the team had hoped for. He will have a chance to correct that tomorrow in what is always a very tough race here."

Saturday, Free Practice 3:

Driver	Chassis	Best Time	Position
G. Fisichella	C23-04	1:17.209	12
F. Massa	C23-06	No Time	20
Spare Car	C23-01	-	-

Saturday, Free Practice 4:

Driver	Chassis	Best Time	Position
G. Fisichella	C23-04	1:15.709	11
F. Massa	C23-06	1:16.332	14
Spare Car	C23-01	-	-

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