2004 Japanese GP Team Comments: Qualifying

By BMW WilliamsF1
October 10 2004

 
 
Japanese GP Saturday - Team Comments
 
The Qualifying session of the Japanese Grand Prix was unusually run on Sunday morning, due to the typhoon Ma-on, which struck Japan in the last 24 hours, and forced the circuit to be closed for Saturday. Ralf Schumacher qualified 2nd and will start from front row beside brother Michael, while Juan Pablo Montoya will start from grid position 13.
 
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya13th (1.37,653 min) Chassis: FW26 05
"I had a quite bad pre-qualifying, mainly due to the fact that the pressure of my tyres wasn't ideal. I therefore had to take some risks in final qualifying and we decided to go out on dry tyres. This choice paid off, because I could slightly improve my position from first qualifying. We have a good race car and I am confident we can collect some points."
 
Ralf Schumacher
 Ralf Schumacher2nd (1.34,032 min) Chassis: FW26 07 (T-car FW26 06)
"Under these unpredictable conditions, with the track quickly changing, it was no easy qualifying. I took advantage of my poor race result in China and the consequent late starting position in pre-qualifying today, and managed to run on a dry and improving track during both the qualifying sessions. I am very happy with this result also because I know we have a good race car and strong chances to collect some valuable points."
 
Dr Mario Theissen BMW Motorsports Director
 Mario Theissen"Qualifying without set-up work was a truely new experience. Especially under drying conditions it was a kind of a gamble. In final qualifying Juan was the first driver to go out on dry tyres, which was a real drive on the knife's edge at that stage. He got the most out of the car and the conditions. Ralf drove both times under better conditions and exploited his chances. It is good to have one car on the front row again. Also I like to compliment the team who succeded in the tasks of stripping down and rebuilding everything."
 
Sam Michael Technical Director WilliamsF1
 Sam Michael"With the new modified weekend format and the fact that we had no free practice here under dry conditions, tyre choice and set up were difficult but it's the same for all teams. In qualifying we had quite variable conditions which made the grid interesting. Only in the race this afternoon we will find out what everyone's true pace is. Both drivers did a good job in qualifying. In prequalifying we made a mistake with the tyre pressure on Juan's car, that's why he was slow."
 
 
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HP Formula One 2004
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