One more than Senna for Schumi
Second pole position of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, following on from the one in Sakhir, both of them courtesy of Michael Schumacher. This is the sixth time that a Ferrari starts the San Marino Grand Prix from pole. Michael took the sixty sixth pole of his career: an outright record.
Jean Todt "A marvellous qualifying with a great performance from Michael. Felipe did well, but he was unable to exploit the full potential of the car in the final part of the session. When all elements of the package - drivers, team, chassis, car and tyres - all work at their best, then the results follow. Today we have made a major step forward and it was nice to do so in front of our fans and our employees, packed into their own grandstand here. But the crucial step comes tomorrow. Everything is in place for us to do well, but we know there are many important factors to take into consideration, first and foremost strategy and reliability. All we can say is that, for the moment, Ferrari and its technical partners, especially Bridgestone and Shell, are working in the right direction."
Michael Schumacher "We have worked very hard in recent weeks, so it's wonderful to see it all come right for us. But to be honest, I am not surprised that we have done well. It is very nice to be back on pole again and of course, the fact it is my 66th and so a new record is something very special for me. At the moment, I am concentrating totally on this weekend so I think I will only really appreciate fully what I have done at a later time. Yesterday, I said I was aiming for pole and the win. Today we have reached the first target and I hope I can make the second one tomorrow. I am convinced we have a good chance of winning."
Felipe Massa "To be honest, I'm not happy. On both my laps with new tyres I had traffic and did not make the most of what I had to work with. The car, the engine and the Bridgestone tyres were certainly worth a place in the top three. Fourth is definitely not a disaster, but I cannot be happy with it. All the same, I am optimistic for the race. We have what we need to get a good result."
Ross Brawn "Very pleased with this result. Everything went well today in terms of our programme. The Bridgestone tyres worked particularly well and I think we can have a strong race and we can look to tomorrow with confidence. Michael's time was fantastic. It's a shame that Felipe never got a clean lap in the final part of qualifying, because of traffic. He still did a good time, given the circumstances. The cars were well balanced and there is cause for optimism for tomorrow."
