21.05.2005 After first qualifying Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher are tenth and eleventh respectively on the provisional grid for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix

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.”
 

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
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
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

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
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
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

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
 

Related articles
19.05.2005

"Fine tuning the car is especially important here, because of the nature of the track and on this aspect, we still have a lot of work to do, especially in light of the outcome of this afternoon’s session"

Report & Photos: Ferrari