Germany 1999: Qualifying Reports
[
Arrows |
Benetton |
BAR |
Ferrari |
Jordan |
McLaren |
Minardi |
Sauber |
Stewart |
Prost |
Williams |
Bridgestone
]
Arrows [start]
Not present at this time
Benetton [start]
Summary : Escalating track temperature and traffic were the deciding factors in this qualifying session. Giancarlo Fisichella went off the track and was held up repeatedly by slower cars.
Pat Symonds : Technical Director
"It was quite difficult to track the changes as the temperature came up during the session but the drivers and the engineers did quite well in this all the same. However I feel we missed our true potential by probably 3 tenths of a second. Nevertheless we are in a good condition for the race tomorrow."
Giancarlo Fisichella
"On the basis of the split times I saw on the steering wheel display I was sure of qualifying in at least sixth position, but on my first flying lap I was held up by a Sauber. Then I went off and damaged the front wing. The repairs cost us a few minutes and I just got out in time for my last run. On my last flying lap there was a Williams on an in-lap in front of me and they deliberately didn't let me by. I don't know who the driver was and I don't want to know but this is not good behaviour."
Alexander Wurz
"My last run should have been 2 or 3 tenths faster but I made a couple of mistakes in the Motordrome section. Thirteenth is not a great position to start the race from but with a good race strategy we should be competitive."
British American Racing [start]
British American Racing made up for lost time today - and then lost it again. As a result, Jacques Villeneuve and Ricardo Zonta will be on the sixth and seventh rows of the starting grid for Sunday's German Grand Prix. The morning started well with both drivers improving their times by four seconds their Friday bests on the demanding Hockenheimring. Overnight work on the settings resulted in a marked improvement in stability on the straights, and overall handling improvements in the chicanes and stadium section. Zonta, having improved, then hit a clutch problem on the last lap of the first morning session. His mechanics replaced the clutch and got him out again five minutes before the end of the second session, when he improved again by a tenth.
Villeneuve also was looking good, and expected to go quicker in the afternoon qualifying hour. He did, but not as much as hoped for. Traction became a problem on the increasingly heating track, but the Canadian's engine also began to lose power on the straights. Jacques jumped into the spare car for his final run, went out with five minutes to go and managed to post his best time of the weekend, one minute, 44.508 seconds, 12th best on the day.
The staunchly partisan German fans were delighted when countryman Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan) split the McLaren-Mercedes duo of Hakkinen (pole, 1:42.950) and Coulthard (third) to earn a spot on the front row. The two Ferraris took fourth and fifth places, with Michael Schumacher's stand-in Mika Salo ahead of regular Ferrari pilot, Eddie Irvine.
Jacques Villeneuve
"We know we're not among the fastest on the track, but today we didn't show our true colours. My race car was losing power, the spare has a very different set-up, but when I came back from the installation lap the officials decided to weigh me even though there was only about 10 minutes to go, so we didn't really have time to make any changes. Ricardo helped me a lot in the straights when I was following him, by giving me a tow, so that was nice of him. We're not good on high speed here, but the race should be exciting because you can overtake more easily than some other circuits. I've always qualified badly here and done better in the race, so why not on Sunday?"
Ricardo Zonta
"I want to say 'thank you' to my mechanics. They worked really hard to help me today and Friday, and I'm sorry that I am not higher up the grid, for them, as well as me. Still, we are in the race Sunday, and a lot can happen."
Malcolm Oastler : Technical Director BAR
"We are disappointed with our qualifying performance. Jacques did the best he could in the T-car in the short amount of time he had after his race engine lost power and he had to switch. Ricardo could only put in 27 practice laps this weekend, and although he did not have any particular problems this afternoon, he found it difficult to get the right set-up."
Ferrari [start]
Jean Todt
"It was a shame for Eddie, who for various reasons, was unable to get a single perfect lap. Salo did a good job to get on the second row of the grid. Given that our cars are better in race trim than in qualifying, I think we should see an open race tomorrow. With these high temperatures, strategy, tyres and brakes will be determining factors."
Mika Salo
"I am not surprised at my performance as I am more comfortable with the car now. I am happy that we made progress throughout the weekend. I did not make any mistakes and I got what I wanted. I still have more to learn so I think there is more to come in terms of performance. The combination of me and the car is still not perfect, but I am getting closer all the time. The braking is unbelievably good on this car. Our new aero package has helped the straight line speed. On my last run I had backed off for yellow flags and then I tried to brake very late, but it was too late and I went off! Fourth is good and I hope to do better tomorrow."
Eddie Irvine
"At least it is better to be fifth than fourth, as the outside of the track is a big advantage here. We went the wrong way with a set-up change in the middle of the session and there was no time to change it back again for my last two runs. I had a lot of traffic on my final run, which obviously did me no favours. In terms of lap time, we are closer to the front than in Austria, but we did not get the best out of the car today. We must have a good look at our qualifying performance for future races. Once again the brake balance was not perfect. But we will not have this problem in race trim. Tomorrow, if I make a good start then I can catch the front two very quickly. The rest will depend on strategy."
Jordan [start]
Heinz-Harald Frentzen delighted his home crowd and his Benson and Hedges Jordan team in the qualifying session for the German Grand Prix by finishing second on the grid. His best time of 1.43.000 split the two McLarens of Hakkinen and Coulthard and gave Jordan its best result since Fisichella qualified second at Hockenheim in 1997.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Frentzen's second place is his best ever performance at this German circuit and has turned one of his dreams into reality. "I always dreamt of doing well at Hockenheim, so qualifying second is a fantastic result for me," he said. Second place is also his best performance of the season so far, a reflection of his growing confidence and talent as a driver, and of the improvements made by the Jordan Mugen-Honda team to the car and engine. As Frentzen explained, " I said earlier this week that I expected us to be more competitive here than in Zeltweg, and this has been the case. The team did a superb job - they helped me to find the right set up and they have made a lot of improvements to the car. It is great to be so close to the McLarens and be in a position to fight for pole. The new engine from Mugen-Honda has been a big help."
Damon Hill
Damon Hill was unlucky i n qualifying. After an excellent performance in the morning session, when he finished the day in first place, he had hoped to qualify well. But on his penultimate lap, as he was about to post a fast time, he ran over debris left on the track by Fisichella's Benetton. "I am extremely disappointed to have qualified eighth.," said Hill. "I had wanted to be at least in the top six and had gone so well this morning that I had hoped for a good result in qualifying. I was not able to put together all the best section times in one lap, and so I will have to settle for starting in eighth place."
Eddie Jordan
Eddie Jordan was delighted with his team's result. "This was a great result and a fantastic performance by Heinz who has shown his home fans that he is a top class driver. He has been driving superbly all year and to be five hundredths off the pole position time shows what a good job he did. The new engine we ran today in qualifying made a big difference and gave us the extra horsepower to place us on the front row of the starting grid. It gives us the opportunity to fight more in the race with McLaren and Ferrari. Damon was unlucky not to finish higher, but he has a good chance of winning points tomorrow."
McLaren [start]
West McLaren Mercedes driver Mika Hakkinen, put in his fastest lap of the weekend with a 1:42.950, giving him his eighth pole of the season and making it McLaren's 100th pole position. David Coulthard suffered a tyre problem during qualifying which saw him use the T.Car for one run before reverting to his race car for the rest of the session. He qualified third for tomorrow's race with a fastest time of 1:43.288
Mika Hakkinen
"It was a good qualifying session and I enjoyed it. However, I think I could have done better. Things on my second to last run were going exceptionally well until the second to last corner, when I arrived there I found a lot of dust on the circuit and I lost three tenths of a second at that point. But I am still on pole and that is the most important thing."
David Coulthard
"I was on the in-lap of my first run and just between the first and second chicanes when the tread came off the tyre which was a rather attention grabbing moment because when the tread flies off it makes the tyre act in a funny way. I thought I had broken the suspension but that was not the case, it did however, cause some damage to the car and as a result I used the T car for my second run. My mechanics did a great job in fixing the car and I was able to use it for the remainder of the session."
Ron Dennis
"A very close qualifying session. Neither of the drivers had optimum laps and David's performance was significantly hampered by a tyre related problem. This saw him take the T car for one of his qualifying runs. A normal and very traditional end of practice with city centre style congestion, but we are now looking forward to the race."
Norbert Haug
"A very close qualifying. Mika finally made it his eighth pole this year. David has a good base by being third, closer to his team mate than he was last year."
Minardi [start]
Marc Gene
"We did an excellent job today. The car felt very well and I mainly concentrated to improve my lap times. I am very satisfied with the today's result. Here is my car and you can see it. Both our cars are now ahead of other single-seaters that were often in front of us in the course of the season. I also am very happy for the Team and I would like to thank all the lads because they did an excellent job and particularly my race engineer."
Luca Badoer
"This is a troubled weekend for me: yesterday I lost my free practice session due to the engine failure and the today's spin made me waste further time. As a result, we couldn't fully concentrate on the set-up work and this affected also our performances during the qualifying session. Now we are working for the race, where we are usually better."
Cesare Fiorio
"That's a great satisfaction for the Team because the today's result is a reward to the technical staff for their job confirming the good performances carried out at Zeltweg. This is a clear sign that we are working in the right direction, both our drivers and the Team itself are getting more mature. We are therefore hopeful to do a good race tomorrow."
Sauber [start]
Jean Alesi
Today was a disaster for me. We lacked downforce, and it was just not possible to balance the car properly. It was understeering far too much in qualifying. We have compared everything in the set-ups, and I cannot see why I am six tenth slower than Pedro.
Pedro Diniz
The car was a little bit better than it was this morning, after a small improvement to the set-up stopped it oversteering so much. But on my last run I tried to get a tow from Villeneuve on my out lap, and he was quite slow in the stadium section. When I came to the first corner on my flying lap the brakes were a little cold as a result, so I lost the chance to go quicker.
Peter Sauber
Even if there had been a correct set-up for us in qualifying, we were unable to find it. Our technical probelms yesterday lost us much valuable track time, which had an adverse knock-on effect on our chances today.
Stewart [start]
Rubens Barrichello will start tomorrow's German Grand Prix from sixth position - continuing his unbroken run of top seven qualifying performances this year.
A number of problems on Johnny Herbert's car during this morning's practice limited his running and restricted his set-up time. As a result he was only able to qualify 17th.
Rubens Barrichello
Are you satisfied with qualifying sixth?
"Well, at least I have kept up my average for the year. My target was the second row but I guess we didn't improve as much as our rivals in the afternoon. After this morning I was expecting to be closer to the front."
What are your prospects tomorrow?
"The car has run well on heavy fuel loads so I think we're in good shape for the race. It's a long race so anything can happen."
Johnny Herbert
You only managed a few laps in this morning practice - what happened?
"In the first practice I was just about to start my first timed lap when I had to stop with an electrical problem. Then I had a rear wing failure in the second session and went off the circuit. There was some damage to the car and I also hurt my thumb. As a result was playing 'catch up' during qualifying and was unable to clock a good time."
How difficult will it be starting so far back on the grid?
"I haven't even thought about race strategy yet, but starting from 17th is going to make things tough for me. I have only got 30 minutes tomorrow morning, probably just 10 laps, to get the car in some sort of race trim."
Paul Stewart : SGP Chief Operating Officer
"We're pleased that Rubens is on the third row. Had he not encountered traffic on his final run there was the prospect of a higher qualifying position. Johnny's lowly starting position is all down to the problems he had this morning which were not of his own making."
Jac Nassar : CEO & President, Ford Motor Company
"It's fabulous to be at a grand prix again, and I'm certainly planning to spend more time at Formula One races in the future. We're satisfied with Rubens' qualifying position, although I know he was hoping for a top four grid spot. Johnny has had more bad luck - the poor guy really is due for a change in fortune. We ran the new Series 4 Ford Cosworth CR-1 engine for the first time in qualifying, and Rubens reported a useful improvement in power and driveability."
Prost [start]
Olivier Panis
"Since the start of the weekend, we have known we were in the hunt. I have worked very closely with my engineers and succeeded in making progress with the car every time I went out, as much in free practice yesterday as today. The times I clocked yesterday with a heavy fuel load really motivated me and gave me confidence for today's qualifying. I was hoping for this kind of result and to see both of us in the top ten. It is very good for everyone and I thank all the team as this result is theirs as much as mine."
Jarno Trulli
"I didn't have much luck today. Two engine problems in five laps, this has never happened to us before. It's a real pity because I really felt I could have been sixth here. During this morning's free practice session, I already had a feeling that the engine was not as strong as usual and I told my engineers. They verified everything before the qualifying session and told me it was okay. Unfortunately, from the start of my first lap, I sensed that I was lacking power and then I had to stop in any case. When I took the spare car to make my third run, I had the same feeling, but I had no way of knowing as I had not had a chance to run in this car before. I had to abandon this car at the side of the track. I hope this bad luck will end today as I really want to drive a good race here where I feel competitive enough to finish in the points."
Alain Prost
"I am above all very happy for Olivier, Jarno and the whole team and I sincerely thank everyone ! Truly, we have a super team. They have all done a lot of important work as well in private testing as in racing and this work has enabled us to have both cars in the top ten. It is the first time this season in optimum conditions. We have been competitive since the start of the weekend, the cars have gone well and we are able to hope for a beautiful race for the team tomorrow."
Williams [start]
The Winfield WilliamsF1 drivers, Ralf Schumacher and Alex Zanardi finished 11th and 14th fastest respectively. Both drivers had quite a smooth qualifying session, although Alex was hampered by too much traffic in his last run, which slowed him down and prevented him from achieving a better time.
Ralf Schumacher
"I must say that here at Hockenheim the complete package of our FW21 is not as competitive as it normally should be. Today I had some problems with my car, especially with the braking area and also coming into the corners. To fix this, we decided to use more wing, which eventually meant that we lost too much speed on the long straight. The Winfield WilliamsF1 team will work very hard tonight to find a good set up for tomorrow's race and I hope that together we can do a better job."
Alex Zanardi
"It was a reasonably good qualifying session, mostly because we made more improvement to the car than we could do this morning. It was a shame that we miscalculated on the last lap and went out of the garage at the wrong moment. I found a lot of traffic out on the track and I am sure I could have been even half a second faster."
Patrick Head : Technical Director
"I think that both drivers made the best of the car. Unfortunately, in this case I didn't help Ralf on his third run because I thought I was speaking to Alex on the radio but in fact I was on the wrong channel. I was actually talking to Ralf when he came into the Stadium section. Anyway, I think he recovered on his last lap and probably did about the time he would have done on his third run. I think the car is not as efficient as it should be to be competitive with such low downforce but anyway, it's a long race tomorrow and we will try to make a good job of it."
Bridgestone [start]
Not present at this time
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