By role
August 23 2003

Spanish Renault F1 driver, Fernando Alonso, was exhultant after setting the pole position in today's qualifying session. The Spaniard has been setting great lap times all weekend and showed that his Renault R23B is a quite competitive package for the twisty track of Budapest. After his second pole position in Formula 1 of his career Alonso was looking forward to the race:

"It is a great feeling to get my second pole position. Our car has been competitive since the start of the weekend, and I don't see any reason why that should change tomorrow. I had some problems yesterday, but the mechanics worked hard to sort things out: I want to thank them, as well as my engineers. As for the flying lap, I didn't have any problems, but I was driving right on the limit towards the end of the lap. I think we are on the right strategy for tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to the race!". The Spaniard said.

Alonso knows that he has some good cars and drivers behind that will be pushing him for the win:

"Tomorrow is more difficult but here I have been confident all weekend," said Alonso. "I hope to finish on the podium because I haven't since Barcelona and I want the same feeling again. Hopefully our 'launch control' will work as usual and I hope to arrive at the first corner in first place." He said on the press conference.

If Alonso would win tomorrow he will be the youngest driver to ever win a Formula 1 race.

On the other side was Trulli who experienced some balancing difficulties on his car and could not match his teammate's speed:

"Sixth position is disappointing after yesterday's result. I made some mistakes on the flying lap, which must have cost me three or four tenths, and the car also lacked grip. Nevertheless, sixth isn't a bad grid slot, and I think I can fight for a podium tomorrow." Said the Italian.

The team was quite happy on he result of Alonso though a bit worried because the lack of pace of Trulli's car:

"A great lap from Fernando to take a well-deserved pole position. Unfortunately, Jarno seemed to get oversteer in the second half of his lap, which compromised his time. It's a great shame, because the two drivers have been running at a similar speed all weekend. Not only does this put him down the grid, it also forces him to start from the dirty side of the circuit. In
spite of the changes to the circuit this year, we still expect it to be difficult to pass, and therefore pole position is all the more valuable." Pat Symonds said after the session.