ATLAS F1 News: Saturday's Selected Quotes

Michael Schumacher: "We have been strong all weekend in the final sector, because our straightline speed has been fastest. I didn't bother with the final run, because by then, I knew we had got the best set-up on the car and I had got the most I could out of it and out of myself. You can never be sure that someone won't go quicker, but it turned out alright in the end. The only worry I had before the qualifying session was that we had to change the engine after this morning's problem and it was not the same specification as the first one. But I can't complain about the engine I had it as it felt very good. I think the run to the first corner after the start will be exciting tomorrow."

Rubens Barrichello: "The car was balanced this afternoon. I did my first run on used tyres, because this morning we had seen that this gave a better balance and as things turned out, that's how I did my best time. On the second run I tried the tactic of slipstreaming but unfortunately it did not work. Finally, on my last two runs, both done on four new tyres, the track conditions meant I could not improve my time. Nevertheless, I have a good grid position. Overtaking is possible here, so I reckon I can have a good race."

Jean Todt: "A tenth pole position this season represents a personal best for Michael Schumacher, while Ferrari has now equalled the result it obtained in 1974 and 2000. After this morning's free practice it was necessary to change the engine in Schumacher's car because of an oil pump problem. Rubens has a good grid position from which to try and improve his standing in the Drivers' classification. I expect a hard fought race tomorrow on a track where overtaking is a possibility. I am happy to see a Ferrari on pole here for a second consecutive year on such a famous circuit and in front of the American public."

Ross Brawn: "It's very good to see Michael on form again. Monza was just a glitch! Considering we are the only Bridgestone runner to have chosen the hard tyre, I think it is a good achievement. Now we will find out if it gives us a better tyre for the race. I think the choice of tyre might have had something to do with Rubens not setting such a good time, even though he has a good grid position. In Michael's case we have also saved a set of tyres for the race. I also expect Rubens to have a good day tomorrow, because although today's result was not the best, his performance in the last three races has been very strong."

Mika Hakkinen: "I'm really pleased to have been able to fight for pole position. It was so close and I enjoyed it. To be on the front row is great, and I will go flat out tomorrow. We made a few modifications to the car during qualifying but nothing major as the balance just seemed to be there. I was behind David at some point to see if I could get a tow, but it didn't work as you have to be able to be extremely close. I aborted my second run because I knew the time would not be quick enough. I'm really looking forward to the race, which I think will be exciting. The circuit is so wide and there are plenty of opportunities for overtaking, and I want to put on a great show for all the fans."

David Coulthard: "We have been struggling since this morning to find a decent balance as we couldn't get rid of the oversteer. All our set-up changes didn't have the desired effect. In those circumstances I think the best which I could have done today was fifth. However the race is tomorrow, and we have shown in the past that you can achieve a good result from lesser grid positions."

Ron Dennis: "It was nice to see the enthusiasm of the Indianapolis crowd for what turned out to be an exciting qualifying session. Mika did a great job, but David struggled with his car's set-up. Our race performance has often proved better than our qualifying this year, so we will see what happens tomorrow."

Norbert Haug: "An exciting qualifying with Mika putting in a very good performance. David and his team have not sorted out their set-up problem yet, but the basis for the race is OK."

Ralf Schumacher: "On my last lap I was braking too late into turn four so that is the reason I didn't improve my time. We should be satisfied with our positions as this is where we expected to be. We have struggled all weekend to find the right balance and I still believe it is going to be difficult tomorrow, but last year we improved from day to day and it would help us if it was a bit warmer. It would be nice to have a place on the podium."

Juan Pablo Montoya: "It was a really difficult day as we couldn't really get our hands on the handling of the car. I think it was a pretty average qualifying for me. I had traffic in my third run, which was my quickest, and on my last I made a mistake."

Patrick Head, Technical Director: "I think we can say they are reasonably solid grid positions for the team rather than anything startling. We have had a few problems getting the car well balanced, but in all the changes we have made we have understood quite a lot about what we have got to do for tomorrow. Obviously we will be working to try and make sure we have a consistent and reliable race."

Gerhard Berger, BMW Motorsport Director: "Having both cars on the second row is a positive result, especially as the time differences at the front are very tight. Ralf nearly made it to the front row as he is just four hundreds behind second place. We had no technical problems and during the final minutes the track seemed to be a bit slower."

Nick Heidfeld: "The car has been really good all weekend, and third place this morning was great. I wasn't sure that I'd be able to hold on to that this afternoon but you never know because sometimes people make mistakes on their quick laps. Unfortunately I had to brake early in the second sector on my fastest lap because of Enge's crash. Without that I'm sure I could have been one place higher. But I am really, really happy with sixth."

Kimi Raikkonen: "All through today I've been struggling to get a perfect balance on my car, and even though we tried lots of little things all through qualifying it just wasn't quite there. It's disappointing, given Nick's strong performance."

Peter Sauber, Team Principal: "Congratulations to Nick on an excellent performance this morning and again this afternoon. Without the yellow flags he could have been fifth. That's great for him and for the team, and shows that we are still improving the performance of the C20 right to the end of the season. Kimi struggled with the balance on his car, but I'm sure both will be strong in the race tomorrow."

Jarno Trulli: "Our qualifying positions are better than we had expected so I feel this is a good achievement today, it was a very tough session and I wasn't able to improve on my best lap time as I had to abort my last run due to traffic. From the data, it's clear that I need to find more speed to be competitive tomorrow, but I am looking forward to race as I think I have a good chance of scoring points from this grid position."

Jean Alesi: "I am very happy with this result, achieving my best lap time at the end of the session was a really fantastic finish to today's qualifying. We found a set-up which worked very well for my driving style on this circuit and I would like to thank the team for doing such a great job. It may not be pole position but I am very happy with a top ten grid position and also to be so close to Jarno's lap time. For the race I hope at least to maintain my place and take advantage of the overtaking opportunities at this circuit."

Eddie Jordan, Chief Executive: "It was a difficult qualifying session so Jarno and Jean did very well to finish in the top ten, it was impressive to see Jean so close to Jarno, who we know is superb in qualifying. They both took full advantage of the cars' current potential and we have a good chance to perform well in the race tomorrow."

Jenson Button: "This has been my best qualifying position of the season and I am really happy to be 10th. It'll be great fun starting the race from this position. Our starts have been really good in recent races and I hope we can keep that up and gain a few places before we get to the first corner. The team has done an enormous amount of good work and the car has improved a lot since the beginning of the season."

Giancarlo Fisichella: ""The car was very well balanced this morning and we made some alterations to what was a very good set-up. But for qualifying we did not get the right breaks due to traffic. On my third and quickest run I was held up by one of the McLarens and on my last I had to slow down because there were yellow flags waving after Enge hit the barrier. We were a bit unlucky. The car is good, but we have to prove as much from a grid position that is lower than it should be."

Mike Gascoyne, Technical Director: "Jenson put in his best qualifying performance of the year today and we are very pleased to see how much he has improved during the last few races. We had a very promising practice session this morning, so overall our grid positions are perhaps a little disappointing. Jenson suffered with a little bit of understeer but was able to improve throughout the session. Giancarlo suffered with a little bit more with oversteer at the start of the session, but he was able to dial that out. He was unfortunate on his final run. He was several tenths up on his previous best lap, but he had to lift off because the yellow flags were waving in the wake of Enge's accident. As a result he wasn't able to improve his time, but we can certainly have a good race from these positions if our drivers make good starts. We have to target reliability and to score some points."

Olivier Panis: "I think we made the possible with the car we have at the moment. The team did a good job by pushing very hard the last lap. I think for the car we have, it's quite good. The car we have for the race is much more competitive. I'm quite positive for tomorrow. It's a little bit more warm, and the level of grip is much better."

Jacques Villeneuve: "The car was sick all weekend, and we didn't cure it. It's doesn't really have any grip, and we weren't too quick on the straights at the same time. It was just undriveable. That was close to as fast as it would go for me, so I don't know what was wrong, we couldn't pinpoint it."

Craig Pollock: "After the difficulties we encountered in the two practice sessions, we knew it was going to be hard for us to qualify well today. Olivier has done a good job and his qualifying position is a better reflection of where the cars should be today. Jacques and his engineers have struggled with his car throughout the weekend and in qualifying tried everything they could with both the race car and the T-car. We haven't been able to achieve the performance we are capable of with Jacques and I'm very disappointed for the whole team."

Eddie Irvine: "Normal sort of stuff. I think I got a reasonably good lap. We just had loads of understeer, and we couldn't get rid of it. By the third run, I got the car as good as it was the whole session, but I need more front end. We made a change, and I just had a shocking vibration coming from the front. The last run was a little bit slower, but I don't really understand the problem there. We'll be good tomorrow. Well just probably do what we normally do, cross our fingers and hope to win."

Pedro de la Rosa: "It was not a good qualifying, absolutely not. The tires are good, but we are not getting the best out of them. Look at Ralf. Ralf is there. So we need to make the tire work properly, and we are not achieving that. We don't really know why we are not generating enough temperature. Having said that, my time was pretty good because I had traffic on my two last laps. They were a mess, really. On the last round, there were cars everywhere, and I was just trying to overtake them. It cost me a little time."

Heinz Harald Frentzen: "This qualifying session was not too bad, even if our positions do not do justice to the improvements we made since yesterday. We opted for the safe side and decided to prioritise the race, which was maybe at the cost of a few tenth today. But I believe this is the right choice, the balance of the car is quite satisfactory, and as it proved to be quite competitive on this track, our decision could allow us to be in a good position in tomorrow's race."

Tomas Enge: "During my first three runs, we were still trying to improve the balance and the grip of my car. I was also trying to adapt myself further to the qualifying exercise as it is only my second experience of it. Everything was going quite well but in my last flying lap, I had a brake failure and went off. I could not prevent from crashing into the tyre walls. I feel all the more disappointed as I achieved a very good first intermediate on this lap. For sure, starting tomorrow's race from the back of the grid will give us even more work, but the important thing is that - fortunately - my accident was not too bad, we will be able to fix the car and I am glad I can race tomorrow."

Alain Prost: "Unfortunately we have not really been able to put together a good lap today, despite both our drivers achieved some very good intermediate times. It is a pity because, considering the work done, we would have deserved to start the race in better positions. However the 73 laps of the United States Grand Prix will be long enough to allow us to take our chance. Our car has been competitive since the start of the week-end and we approach this race with optimism."

Fernando Alonso: "It was a perfect qualifying for us. Tomorrow we'll see in the race. We had a hard compound in the tires, so it will be much better for the race."

Alex Yoong: "It was trouble-free. I had some balance problems with the car, so the time wasn't really where we wanted to be. I was trying to get to the 14s, slow 14s. The last run the time was better, but we got a yellow flag, I think, three corners from the end, so I had to lift off. Otherwise we would have been in the 14s. It's all right. It's trouble free. It's good to get some good running."

Paul Stoddart, Team Principal: "What a fantastic effort! Fernando's P17 is his best performance this year. When one considers what we give away in engine power to our competitors, it's easy to see why the team is so upbeat about this performance. In fact, it's even better when one considers that Fernando's third run was spoiled and his final run was in the spare car fitted with older-specification gearbox. Clearly, his effort today was fantastic, but it could so easily have resulted in P14 or P15. Congratulations also to Alex, who in only his second Formula One qualifying session, comfortably made the field for tomorrow's United States Grand Prix. It would be a major understatement to say we are looking forward to the race."

Enrique Bernoldi: "I thought that after the progress we made this morning I would have had a much better qualifying session than that. There was a problem with my engine during my first run so I had to switch to the T-Car right away which doesn't help your momentum. We did make steady progress after that but I was annoyed to be blocked during my third quick run. My last run was the best but we should have been higher up the grid here."

Jos Verstappen: "Compared to this morning the car has improved considerably. The handling was pretty good throughout qualifying but we just weren't quick enough. The car felt at it's best on the last two runs but on the first of those I made a small mistake and on the last I came across Montoya in Turn Three and lost time going around him. I'll have to work very hard in the race tomorrow but I had a good one here last year so let's hope for a little luck to come our way."

Graham Taylor, Chief Race Engineer: "Enrique had a misfire at the end of the first sector on his first quick run so had to come in immediately to switch to the T-Car. He had a very good first run in that, considering it was the first time that car ran all weekend. After being held up by the Ferraris on his third run we sent him out again for his final attempt and he went quicker again so, all in all, he deserved more than he got today. Jos improved enormously from this morning after a whole set-up change. Like Enrique, he was reasonably happy with the balance of the car, but just couldn't get any more speed. His last two runs were looking good but he made a small mistake on his first one and had trouble getting past Montoya on his last. It will be the same story for everyone as this is a short track...there will be similar tales of woe up and down the pitlane."

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