2004 French GP Qualifying: Team Comments

By BMW WilliamsF1
July 3 2004

French GP Qualifying - Team Comments
The BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers will start tomorrow’s French Grand Prix from third and fourth row. Juan Pablo Montoya came sixth and Marc Gené, who is replacing Ralf Schumacher, qualified in eighth position.
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya6th (1.14,172 min)
Chassis: FW26 06 (Spare car FW26 03)
"It’s a shame that I couldn’t again set the fastest time in qualifying, after such a good pre-qualifying lap. We solved the problems I had in this morning’s free practice, changing the car quite a bit, and we went out for qualifying with the right set-up. In qualifying I was quickest in the first two sectors, but then I made a mistake because I was pushing too hard and lost the rear of my car in the second high-speed chicane and I could only set the sixth time. The positive thing is that we showed today that the pace is there and this means we should have a strong race car. Anyway, we’ll see tomorrow how we are going to perform compared with everybody else."
Marc Gene
 Marc Gene8th (1.14,275 min)
Chassis: FW26 05
"Having managed to do a good job at the right moment was the most important thing. In my pre-qualifying lap I found it difficult to get suddenly used to a different fuel load and I made a mistake, but my qualifying lap was ok, even if I know I could have been a couple of tenths quicker, maybe. Anyway, that was my best lap so far this weekend! If on Wednesday somebody had told me that I would have set this time, I would have signed-up for it, without doubt! Starting from the fourth row is still a good position and I my aim for the race tomorrow is to collect as many points as possible for the team."
Dr Mario Theissen BMW Motorsports Director
 Mario Theissen"We cannot be satisfied because today pole position was possible. In the first qualifying session everything went perfectly for Juan Pablo, but on their second laps both the drivers lost some time in the last sector. Juan Pablo and Marc are separated by just one tenth of a second. It was a good performance by Marc too. Anyway, the lap times are quite close here with the top eleven drivers within only one second. With regards to the engines, neither of the BMW P84 experienced any problems so far."
Sam Michael Technical Director WilliamsF1
 Sam Michael"It was a disappointing qualifying session for our team as both cars had a big moment in the last sector. But our long run performance is quite strong. So we are looking forward to a strong race performance tomorrow. We didn’t have any mechanical problems ant the new parts are working well."
 
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