JP beats Kimi
Team McLaren Mercedes driver Juan Pablo Montoya will start tomorrow's San Marino Grand Prix from seventh position on the grid after setting a fastest time of 1:24.021 in qualifying. Team mate Kimi Raikkonen lines up eighth with a time of 1:24.158. Juan Pablo's car suffered from a fuel pressure problem during this morning's practice and as a result the Colombian was unable to complete any timed laps.
Consequently for qualifying Juan Pablo moved into the spare car which was set-up for him this weekend. The team worked hard in the limited time available to move Juan Pablo's engine into the spare car to avoid the 10 place penalty.
Juan Pablo Montoya "Today's qualifying result was OK for me particularly considering the limited amount of running I have done so far this weekend. My car developed a fuel pressure problem in practice this morning, and as a result we decided to change to the spare car which was not an issue. However to try and cure the understeer I experienced yesterday, we had made some quite dramatic set-up changes for this morning's practice, but as we never got an opportunity to evaluate them, we went a bit more conservative with the car for qualifying. I think this will pay off in the race because the car is very consistent. There are a number of strategy options, but I think we have chosen the right one and podium positions should definitely be possible."
Kimi Raikkonen "I'm a bit disappointed as I could have done better today, and I didn't get the opportunity to show the full potential of our package. Everything went well in the first two qualifying sessions, but things didn't go according to plan in the last part of qualifying where I did my two flying laps. On the first run I used the best of my Michelin tyres, but I drove a better lap on my second run but still lost time in the last part of the lap. However I think if things goes our way in the race we should be OK."
Ron Dennis "Today's qualifying positions are acceptable bearing in mind our strategy and Juan Pablo's problem in practice this morning. We will only see where we are in comparison to our competition after their first set of pit stops I'm confident that we will have a strong race tomorrow if we avoid any first-lap incidents."
Norbert Haug "Kimi lost quite a bit of time in the last sector of his first lap which cost him some grid positions - but no complaints. He was impressive in the other qualifying sessions - being the fastest Michelin runner. Juan Pablo did a good job with his handicap not having had any laps in the third practice session. Our strategy is strong, and despite starting from the fourth row we can do a good job tomorrow."
