Team Rundown: Saturday Qualifying 2003 British GP

By Andrew Hooper
July 19 2003

 

 

  
Team Rundown - Saturday Qualifying
 
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: Rubens Barrichello 1st, Michael Schumacher 5th.

It was an unexpected result for Ferrari with Rubens Barrichello on pole and Michael Schumacher only fifth, after an off track moment at the exit of Abbey.

"You cannot expect to be the fastest when you drive off the circuit," said Michael. "I got dirt on my tyres and that compromised the rest of the lap because I did not have good traction, so I lost even more time."

Rubens Barrichello was delighted to be fastest. "The only disadvantage of being one of the early runners was the pressure on me not to make a mistake as I did yesterday," he said. "The car was fantastic and we had a good set-up. Silverstone has always been good to me. I cannot really say if I had a disadvantage with the conditions because the wind was blowing from different directions all the time."


BMW WilliamsF1 Team: Ralf Schumacher 4th, Juan Pablo Montoya 7th.

It was a disappointing session for Williams.

"I had a lot of understeer and the car was very difficult to drive," said Ralf. "Obviously I got a bit of a present thanks to Michael going off."

Juan Pablo Montoya was not happy with his car at all. "I had turn-in oversteer, mid-corner understeer and bad traction," he said. "Everybody could see that I was sliding through the whole of the Becketts section. I do not understand it because this morning the car was handling as if it was on rails."

The team was however confident for Sunday. "Our race strategy is very good," said Sam Michael. "The pace in race trim is good and so we should be able to beat Ferrari tomorrow."


West McLaren Mercedes: Kimi Raikkonen 3rd, David Coulthard 12th.

McLaren suffered a reversal of fortunes from Friday with Kimi Raikkonen on the pace and David Coulthard in trouble.

"I ran wide at Stowe and then locked up in Club," said David. "That is where I lost my time. The car was not well-balanced and I was not able to hit the apex at some corners. The car has changed a lot since this morning and I am not sure why."

McLaren managing director Martin Whitmarsh said that David was not confident after the morning.

"It was a difficult session for David because he went into it feeling ill-prepared after what happened in the morning session when he did not get a good fast run. Yesterday Kimi was struggling and David was fine. Today it was the opposite. On the positive side David was competitive in the first and third sectors and it is not easy to make an error and then come back strongly, which is what David did. Kimi did a good job. It was a very controlled and competitive lap, nothing wild. We think we have the right tyres and a good strategy for tomorrow and we are confident that we will be challenging Ferrari and Williams tomorrow."

Raikkonen was very pleased. "After what happened yesterday this was a good result, particularly as we have not done any testing here. I am very satisfied."

Mild Seven Renault F1 Team: Jarno Trulli 2nd, Fernando Alonso 8th.

There was a big surprise for Renault with Jarno Trulli second on the grid.

"It is a totally unexpected result," he said, "particularly as I have had a lot of small problems in the course of the weekend. I was never really happy with the car but I did a nearly perfect lap and I am really happy for tomorrow because I think we have a good strategy."

Fernando Alonso was less happy. "It was a good enough lap," he said. "The rear of the car was not very stable and I do not know if this was due to the track conditions. We tried a new set-up for qualifying and things were better but I was still lacking grip."

Sauber Petronas: Heinz-Harald Frentzen 14th, Nick Heidfeld 16th.

Heinz Harald Frentzen was pretty happy with his lap but felt that he might have made up several places if he had not missed the apex at Abbey. "I think I would have been in the 1m22s," he said.

Nick Heidfeld was disappointed with his showing. "I really struggled with the car," he said, "and the wind upset the car still further."

Jordan Ford: Giancarlo Fisichella 15th, Ralph Firman 17th.

It was a disappointing day for Jordan.

"I made no mistakes," said Fisichella. "It was a good lap considering the difficulties we have had so I suppose it could have been worse. Obviously I would like to further up the grid."

Ralph Firman was also disappointed. "I had a productive morning," he said. "We made some changes to cure the oversteer and it gave me massive understeer in the warm-up. I did not want to made too radical a change and so I still had understeer in qualifying and you can lose a lot of time that way on this circuit."

Jaguar Racing: Antonio Pizzonia 10th, Mark Webber 11th.

Antonio Pizzonia outqualified Mark Webber although the two Jaguars were very close on times.

"It could have been better," said Pizzonia. "But considering all the problems we had with the car it is good. The wind was really quite bad."

Mark Webber agreed that the wind had been an important factor. "It was very windy," he said. "I did the best job I could do. Even old Michael threw it off the track so it wasn't easy out there. We'll just have to see if we can nibble at some points tomorrow."

Lucky Strike BAR Honda: Jacques Villeneuve 9th, Jenson Button No time.

It was a bad day for Jenson Button, the British driver hitting a kerb and damaging his front suspension.

"I was trying to carry too much speed on to the straight and I ran a little bit wide and hit a kerb at a different angle than usual," said Button. "That caused the failure, It is amazing just how much difference a couple of inches will make. I realised that the car was not quite right because there were bits flying off!" Obviously I am deeply disappointed."

Jacques Villeneuve was happy to be ninth. "To be honest I could not have gone much quicker," he said. "This is as good as it gets in the circumstances."

European Minardi Cosworth: Jos Verstappen 19th, Justin Wilson 20th.

It was a disappointing day for Minardi with both cars well off the pace.

"Frankly I did expect more from the qualifying session," said Giancarlo Minardi. "I thought we could come out with less of a gap to the others. Having said that this is one of the most difficult tracks for us because we have never tested here and the others."

Panasonic Toyota Racing: Cristiano da Matta 6th, Olivier Panis 13th.

It was a good day for Cristiano da Matta. "I was in the spare because of an hydraulic failure in the warm-up," he said. "The car was set up for me and I did a good lap but I did not expect to be sixth. The car was well balanced and the best it has been all weekend."

But for Olivier Panis there was disappointment. "I had big oversteer in the last sector," he said. "I am not sure why. We are going to have to look at the data."

Bridgestone: Hisao Suganuma: "I am delighted to see Ruben taking pole despite having to be the first to run but it was a shame that Michael made a mistake. I am however encouraged by what Jacques Villeneuve was able to do."

Michelin: Pierre Dupasquier: "It is always difficult to analyse performances on Saturday when the fuel loads are different. That can have a big influence at Silverstone. We think we have made good choices but the track temperature tomorrow will be important."
 
 
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