By Jamie Makin
April 23 2005

Team SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve achieved seventh and 13th positions respectively after this afternoon’s first qualifying session, so tomorrow they will start final qualifying 14th and eighth in the running order. Apart from a lucky 4th place in Australia due to weather conditions, both Villeneuve and Massa put in their best qualifying performances so far this season. Villeneuve may be six spots behind his teammate, but his time was only .406 seconds slower meaning he is closing the gap.

"This was a much better qualifying than I’ve had so far this year (Melbourne apart), and the new aerodynamic parts that the team has brought here have made a big improvement," said a satisfied Villeneuve. "Together with more work on the mechanical and electronic side, the car is a lot better. I made a small mistake which cost me a couple of tenths, and the way that things were this afternoon that cost me a couple of positions, but overall it was a much better day."

Meanwhile, Felipe Massa put in a solid run to secure 7th position in the session. "I’m really, really happy with the work the team has been doing on the car, which has improved a lot since Bahrain," beamed the young Brazilian. "I’m also really satisfied with my lap. It was clean and I didn’t make any mistakes, so we were able to show our true potential."

Unfortunately, regardless of tomorrow's final qualifying result, Massa will find himself starting towards the back of the grid. "But I’m very disappointed that we had to change the engine last night, so I have to lose 10 grid places. That’s very frustrating," he said. "Without that I think I could have made an excellent race. But, even starting so far back, I think it will still be possible to do a good job, and even to dream of points." Imola is notoriously difficult to pass at, and Massa had emphasized earlier in the week that qualifying well was critical for success.

Regardless of the penalty, things are clearly moving forward now for the team. Peter Sauber confirmed his driver's impressions of the upgraded C24. "At the beginning of the season I said that the C24 was not where it should be but that it had a lot of potential. I’m glad that we could make our first significant step here in Imola, and I am confident that more will follow.

The SAUBER team has limited resources compared to their larger rivals and thus cannot run their windtunnel around the clock. Nor can they put in as much testing and development time between races. Nevertheless, the team compensates by making the most of what they do have and Peter Sauber commended their recent efforts. "First of all, thanks to the team at Hinwil who are using our resources there to their optimum. And thanks to Felipe for an excellent lap," Sauber said. "Jacques was also able to demonstrate the step he has taken this weekend, even though he was not 100 percent happy with his lap."

Rain is still in the forecast for tomorrow's final qualifying and race so this weekend's saga is far from over.

Saturday, Qualifying 1:

s

Driver	Chassis	Best Time	Position
J. Villeneuve	C24-04	1:20.999 (+1.113)	13
F. Massa	C24-06	1:20.593 (+0.707)	7
Spare Car	C24-03	-	-

Saturday, Free Practice 3:

Driver	Chassis	Position	Best Time	Laps
J. Villeneuve	C24-04	16	1:25.393 (+4.037)	6
F. Massa	C24-06	3	1:22.971 (+1.615)	6
Spare Car	C24-03	-	-	-

Saturday, Free Practice 4:

Driver	Chassis	Position	Best Time	Laps
J. Villeneuve	C24-04	15	1:21.543 (+1.485)	11
F. Massa	C24-06	10	1:20.506 (+0.448)	11
Spare Car	C24-03	-	-	-

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