Rubens
Barrichello and Michael Schumacher are tenth and eleventh
respectively on the provisional grid for Sunday’s race. In
simple terms, these lowly positions are due to lack of grip,
the continued problem of the F2005 to find rapid pace over a
single qualifying lap and the fact that both drivers made
their runs when the track conditions, which improve with
every passing car here in Monaco, were still slippery.
Everyone in the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team is
disappointed, especially as tomorrow morning’s qualifying
session is unlikely to see much change to the order in which
the cars will line up on the grid.
Rubens Barrichello
summed up the team’s resilience when he said after
qualifying: “this is not a disaster. I have won with Ferrari
in the past, I have lost with Ferrari in the past and we
will win again.” On a positive note and, as has been proved
in past races, Michael and Rubens can expect to have a much
more competitive package over a race distance and Monaco is
notorious for throwing up surprises and incidents.
Nevertheless, the narrow and twisty streets of the
Principality mean that overtaking is extremely difficult.
Kimi Raikkonen
who took pole a fortnight ago in Spain is on provisional
pole for McLaren Mercedes, followed by championship leader,
Fernando Alonso in the Renault. In fact the top six belongs
to just three teams, as Mark Webber is third for
BMW-Williams, Giancarlo Fisichella is fourth in the Renault,
Juan Pablo Montoya is fifth for McLaren Mercedes, followed
by the BMW-Williams of Nick Heidfeld. The session had to be
stopped with just three cars left to run, as Ralf Schumacher
had a very big crash in his Toyota at Tabac corner.
Fortunately, the driver was unhurt, but the car was badly
damaged and left oil and debris all over the track.
Jean Todt: “There
is not much to say: it was a very disappointing qualifying.
We are a very long way off the quickest times, mainly due to
a lack of grip. In this modern era of Formula 1, overtaking
is already difficult enough, but on this track it is
virtually impossible, which means that being down towards
the back of the grid is a considerable handicap for the
race.
"Obviously, anything can happen and we know that, over
a race distance, our package is more competitive than on the
single lap. However, tomorrow we face an uphill struggle,
but we will not throw in the towel and will do all we can to
get the most out of this situation.”
|
|
Ferrari's lowly first qualifying positions are due
to lack of grip, the continued problem of the F2005
to find rapid pace over a single qualifying lap and
the fact that both drivers made their runs when the
track conditions, which improve with every passing
car in Monaco, were still quite
slippery |
|
|
|
After
the first
qualifying session Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher are
tenth and eleventh respectively on the first provisional grid for
Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix |
|
Rubens Barrichello: “I had a good start to my lap, the balance of the car was
reasonable, but the fact I did not make a run on new tyres
this morning meant I did not have a feel for them straight
away. We knew we would be struggling particularly here at
Monaco with our one lap performance – a problem that has
been with us all season.
"This is not a problem that we can
sort overnight, even if the work we have done has seen us
improve by tenths of a second at a time. But this is not a
disaster: I have won with Ferrari in the past, I have lost
with Ferrari in the past and we will win again. I don’t
think we can improve much in second qualifying, but we know
that in the race, after fighting for grip on the opening
lap, we will have a strong package.”
Michael Schumacher: “This was definitely not a good session for us and
obviously, I am disappointed. This morning we were only
about 0.7 to 0.8 too slow, but this afternoon the gap was
much bigger. We know we are not so good when it comes to our
one lap performance and the fact I went out quite early in
the session meant the track was very slippery and so it was
even more of a handicap. Tomorrow’s qualifying will probably
be the same situation, with little chance to improve.
However, in race trim the car is much better and we will
have to see what strategy we can come up with to make the
most of that fact. In general terms, we just have to keep
working hard to improve.”
Ross Brawn : “The
track here at Monaco always picks up a lot more grip as the
session goes on and we did not go out at a very good time.
Having said that, we seemed to find even less grip than we
had this morning, which indicates that the other cars
running on the track during our break did not help the
situation. Our drivers were struggling to get grip on the
first lap. We do have a very good race set-up, but it is
going to be a difficult afternoon, unless we can make up a
few places in tomorrow morning’s qualifying. The drivers are
reasonably happy with the cars which are quite well
balanced.”
Qualifying session:
Rubens Barrichello: 10th 1.16.142 3 laps
chassis 246; Michael Schumacher: 11th 1.16.186 3 laps
chassis 245; Temperatures: air 24/22°C, track 36°C
|
|
|