Belgian GP - Ferrari - Qualifying
Michael Schumacher put in a strong qualifying lap, just over a second off the Pole Position time set by Juan Pablo Montoya, to qualify his Bridgestone-shod Ferrari in sixth position for Sunday`s Belgian Grand Prix.
Team-mate Rubens Barrichello starts 12th in the second Ferrari and the team now look towards the 44-lap Grand Prix and hope for rain.
Michael Schumacher
“We said that we did not think there would be much of an improvement after Monza and so today’s performance is pretty much what we expected. We did the best we could and it seems that I will start from sixth place, which is okay, although I would have preferred to stay seventh on the clean side of the grid. If it stays dry, we can only hope to fight for points, so obviously I prefer if it rains as that would make the situation more open. Today, we ran the car with a bias towards a wet set-up, which is reflected in the lack of top speed.”
Rubens Barrichello
“Given that we have opted for a very conservative race strategy, I do not think that twelfth on the grid today is too bad. We have to see what the weather will do tomorrow. Taking all the possibilities into account, I think I have a chance of scoring points tomorrow.”
Jean Todt
“There were so many unknowns going into this session and there still are. We were expecting rain, but it did not come and so in terms of the gap to the best, we are in a similar situation to the one we have seen in the last few races. In analysing today’s result, one also needs to take into account the different choices in terms of set-up and strategy, based on the weather forecast, which is suggesting there is a strong chance of rain tomorrow afternoon."
"Honestly, I hope this turns out to be accurate. It would allow us to see if, such a long time after the last wet Grand Prix, the Ferrari-Bridgestone package has still got the edge in these conditions, or if we will still suffer from the heavy penalty of lack of grip that has made this season such a struggle.”
Ross Brawn
“I am slightly disappointed with this performance, as I thought we could make a little bit of a step up this afternoon, from what we saw in the morning. I suspect the track was a bit slippery. We would not complain if it is wet tomorrow. Rubens is a bit further back than we would have liked, but let us hope he can move up a bit if and when it rains tomorrow. We did take the possibility of rain into account in the way we set up the cars today, but they do not have a full wet set-up.”


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