Today's Selected Quotes - Austrian GP

Saturday July 24th, 1999

McLaren

Mika Hakkinen, todayMika Hakkinen: "I had to change to the T.Car as my race car cut out at the exit of the pit lane and that always makes you feel a bit nervous, although the T. Car is exactly the same as your race car. But it was great teamwork and we got the right result. This is a tough grand prix, hard on the cars and brakes with many things that can happen, but I am going to go flat out and try to gain the maximum from the race."

David Coulthard: "I had a small electronic problem at the start of the session which I came back in to check before starting my qualifying laps. But apart from that, I have felt really comfortable with the car all weekend and I think we should have a great race tomorrow. I have been quick all weekend and I think that if we have reliability, the same conditions, then we expect the race to be very close."

Ron Dennis: "A satisfying qualifying session for both drivers in which they got most of the performance from their cars. Mika suffered a fuel pump failure on his race car and he did the whole of qualifying in the T.Car. This is particularly pleasing for the mechanics who work on this car as they rarely get the opportunity to enjoy a pole position. David had a small problem on his first lap because of a programming error but this was quickly rectified."

David Coulthard, todayNorbert Haug: "Our team gave a great performance today. Mika had to use the T.Car and posted the fastest lap of the weekend which is an outstanding job. David being less than two tenths of a second slower in second spot made this session a perfect one for us."

Ferrari

Eddie Irvine: "The reason for the big gap to pole position is that my brakes were inconsistent: one lap I would lock the fronts, the next it would be the rears. Because of that I could not commit to the corners. If you look at the section times, then the gap is not so big and as this problem with the brakes does not occur in race conditions, I am confident for tomorrow. Third is a good place to start, and I hope to get past David and try and chase Mika. The car is well balanced and we will be much closer in the race."

Mika Salo: "I found it difficult to balance the car and at first I was struggling in the slow speed corners. We fixed that, but then it was not perfect in the high speed ones. We changed the car a lot throughout the day and before my final run we got it right. I went a bit wide at the first corner and lost it there. The times are so close on this track, that another couple of tenths would have put me in fourth, so I am happy that I am only half a second behind Eddie. The time I lost yesterday affected this afternoon's performance, but seventh place is not bad, the car feels good in race trim and it is a long race. I hope to score more than one point tomorrow."

Jean Todt: "We could have expected to have a car on the second row, but with a smaller time gap to pole. Mika Salo performed well, considering this was his first qualifying session for Ferrari. It is a shame he made a mistake in the first sector. But for that, he could have improved his time by two or three tenths. Considering the pressure he was under, he did well. In tomorrow's race, it will be important to get both cars to the finish."Eddie Irvine, today

Jordan

Heinz Harald Frentzen: "After a difficult morning trying to find the right set up, I had not expected to finish so high up. This is the best result we have had all season and I am very pleased with the job we did today. This morning we were struggling to find the perfect balance for this track but we made the right modifications in time for a successful qualifying session. You really have to be very accurate with the changes you are making to the car on this circuit and we have worked very hard this weekend analysing the data. It is great that it worked out. I have a lot of confidence in the car for tomorrow and we will be running some modifications for the first time in a race, so I am looking forward to a good day."

Stewart

Rubens Barrichello: "I had a problem with turn-in oversteer this morning and I felt like a passenger at times. But we improved the car's handling and mechanical grip as the session went on and the car felt very good by the end. I think fourth was probably the best I could have done. I left it a little late for my last run and caught some traffic. I owe a lot to my engineers and mechanics who gave me a nice car this afternoon. There are chances to overtake under braking here so I expect to be challenging for the podium if I can get a good start and our race strategy works out. Heinz Harald Frentzen, todayWe have improved the car in race trim at the last couple of tests and the Silverstone race proved that we can run competitively at the front, so I'm confident for tomorrow."

Johnny Herbert: "It has taken me and the team a bit longer than expected but now we are in the top six it’s a big relief. Considering I was fourth quickest this morning I'm a little frustrated not to be one or two places higher up. First of all the testing we did at Monza last week has been very beneficial. My main problem this year has been to put in a quick lap on low fuel. The car felt great and I was able to be a bit more aggressive than usual. This is also my first trouble-free start to a weekend so I felt more relaxed for qualifying. My final run was hampered first by the yellow flags and then I was held up by traffic, so I could have gone quicker."

Paul Stewart, Chief Operating Officer: "To fill the third row of the grid for the first time this year is a tremendous achievement. For Johnny in particular this is a satisfying result. We now have a good opportunity to pick up points with both cars in the race and improve our championship standing. All the modifications we have made to the cars, including the introduction of the Series 3 engine, have worked well so far."

Martin Whitaker, Director, Ford Racing, Europe: "Having both cars in the top six is an excellent performance by the whole team. We experienced no major problems and it marks a solid race weekend debut for the Series 3 engine. As a precaution we changed the engine in Rubens' car after Free Practice."Rubens Barrichello, today

Williams

Ralf Schumacher: "On my first qualifying run I could not achieve a better time because Villeneuve wasn't giving me any space to overtake him and when he saw me in the mirrors it was too late. In the second run I was very careful because I wanted to do a good time. Then, in my third run, I could finally achieve my fastest lap. Although everyone is very close together I must admit that after the free practice I expected to be in the sixth or seventh positions. Now we must really work hard for tomorrow's race to find a good set-up and I am sure that the Winfield WilliamsF1 Team will score some more points."

Alex Zanardi: "I am a bit puzzled because unfortunately in the morning we got some information that was no longer valid in the afternoon. Well Formula One is for sure no easy deal, but once more I made some strategy choices for qualifying that turned out to be not the right ones. Tomorrow is another day, after all, and I hope we will manage to have a decent race."

Patrick Head, Technical Director: "I think that those grid positions are about par for the course for us at the moment and to improve upon that we have obviously got to make the car better. We expect to do that as the season continues but meanwhile now it's just a question of a good race preparation and we hope that we can finish tomorrow in good shape."


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