Schumacher 3rd as Rosberg qualifies in 13th
Another dramatic and weather-affected day at Silverstone saw an extended qualifying session lasting just over two hours. Michael Schumacher qualified third for tomorrow's British Grand Prix - his second top-three qualifying performance in four races. Nico Rosberg will start from 11th tomorrow.
Michael Schumacher, F1 W03 / 05, P3:
"Naturally I'm pleased with today's result - after all, we're in the top three again. It didn't look so good before the break in Q2 because my visor was completely misted up and that meant I had some excitement during that lap! But then everything went well in Q3. We were competitive on both the intermediate and wet tyres, so I would welcome more rain tomorrow. Third position is a good starting point for the race - I'm looking forward to it."
Nico Rosberg, F1 W03 / 07, P13:
"I wasn't quick enough in general today, and we need to understand why that happened as it's a bit surprising really as yesterday I was quicker in the same conditions. But I'm still confident for tomorrow and looking forward to the race as this year, it's possible to score good points even when you are starting from a long way back. Thanks to the fans who were here today. Even when there was heavy rain and we were not driving for a long time, they created a great atmosphere."
Ross Brawn, Team principal:
"It was a challenging afternoon for everybody, with the long break and some very changeable conditions throughout. Michael delivered a very good performance, especially in Q3 when he put in a time good enough for third place with his first lap on the intermediate tyres. Nico didn't achieve his full potential today in the tricky six minutes when Q2 restarted. This was the kind of session where you could tumble from fastest to slowest in a couple of laps, as we saw with some other drivers, and he unfortunately wasn't able to put a full lap together. Overall, the car seems to be performing reasonably well in the wet conditions and the balance seemed driveable; I am sure that tomorrow's race, in changeable conditions, will be full of opportunities. On a personal note, thank you to all of the fans for sticking with us today, and this was certainly the first time I've performed a Mexican wave in the middle of Q2. I've already had a few text messages from friends about my technique!"
Norbert Haug, Vice President of Mercedes HighPerformanceEngines:
"It's fair to say that Michael had a chance of setting pole today, as his second and third sector times on his last flying lap proved. However in the closing stages he only had one lap on inters and, although he was seven-tenths slower in the first sector compared to the best split time, he was less than three-tenths down at the end of the lap. Starting from third is a good base for Michael and our team tomorrow. This is his second top-three qualifying result in four races, after finishing on the podium in third place under completely different conditions in Valencia. It was a pity for Nico that he missed Q3 by about two-tenths. He qualified 13th after a less-than-perfect Saturday; hopefully '13' can be his lucky number tomorrow. Qualifying lasted two-and-a-half hours and two minutes today - hats off to the fans at the track because they made the very best out of it, enjoyed their time as much as possible and got a thrilling finale to the session as their reward."
Weather: Wet Temperatures: Air: 15-17°C / Track: 18-24°C
