30.07.2005 Michael Schumacher had said the signs of improvement were already visible on Friday and this afternoon, he was proved right as he stormed through to set the quickest time in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix

Michael Schumacher had said the signs of improvement were already visible on Friday and this afternoon, he was proved right as he stormed through to set the quickest time in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Michael’s 64th career pole was Scuderia Ferrari’s first pole this season, the first since the final round of 2004 when Barrichello was on pole in Brazil and Michael’s first since the penultimate round last year, in Japan.

While exhaustive work from the Scuderia and Bridgestone was always going to result in some improvement, there was an element of surprise this afternoon, not just because Schumacher took pole, but because of the margin by which he did it: almost nine tenths of a second quicker than his nearest rival, Juan Pablo Montoya in the McLaren-Mercedes. However, the reigning world champion warned that this was just a first step and only future races will show if this is a genuine step forward or simply a case of the F2005-Bridgestone tyre package being particularly well suited to the demands of the Hungaroring circuit.

The second row consists of the Toyota of Jarno Trulli ahead of the McLaren-Mercedes of Kimi Raikkonen. Fifth and sixth places go to Ralf Schumacher in the Toyota and Fernando Alonso in the Renault. The Spaniard who leads the Drivers’ classification and celebrated his 24th birthday yesterday, made a slight driving error in the final sector, but even without that, his time had not looked good enough to challenge for the front row.

In the second F2005, Rubens Barrichello recorded the seventh fastest time to start from the fourth row and is confident that his strategy and a consistent performance level from his car-tyre package will allow him to have a good race tomorrow.

With air temperature reaching 36 Centigrade this afternoon, it looks like being the hottest Hungarian GP in a long time. However, as Michael pointed out in the press conference after qualifying, it should not present much of a problem as races such as Malaysia test the driver with more demanding conditions.

Jean Todt: “We had forgotten what pole position tasted like and today, we can savour it again thanks to an extraordinary lap from Michael. This result makes us very happy and is the reward for the vast amount of work carried out over the last few months by the team along with our friends at Bridgestone. Rubens’ seventh place is also a good result, given that his time is very close to that of the cars ahead of him. Now we face the toughest task of the weekend, namely the race. As usual, reliability, strategy and the consistency of tyre performance will play key roles. For our part, as usual, we will give it our all. A good result would be important for the morale of the team and all our fans.”
 

Ferrari F2005 - Hunargian GP Qualifying
Ferrari F2005 - Hunargian GP Qualifying
Ferrari F2005 - Hunargian GP Qualifying

Michael’s 64th career pole was Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s first pole this season, the first since the final round of 2004 when Barrichello was on pole in Brazil and Michael’s first since the penultimate round of 2004 the Japanese Grand Prix

Ferrari F2005 - Hunargian GP Qualifying
Ferrari F2005 - Hunargian GP Qualifying
Ferrari F2005 - Hunargian GP Qualifying

Michael Schumacher had said the signs of improvement were already visible on Friday and this afternoon, he was proved right as he set  the  quickest  time  during  qualifying


Michael Schumacher : “I drove a good lap and I am delighted to be back here after suffering for so long. I am happy to be on pole, happy that it is with this margin and also that we look in good shape for the race. This is good for Bridgestone, who have suffered with us and this result is an excellent return for the effort they have put in. We saw from Rubens’ performance yesterday that, not only was the package quick over a single lap, it was also consistent over a longer run. There is no reason not to believe in a Ferrari comeback, but at the same time we will have to wait and see if this result is a case of the car and tyre suiting this track or if it will become a general trend. This is a great result and a great motivation for the whole team. As for being on pole, I think it is more important that I am on the clean side of the track, because I do not share the view that at this circuit, grid position is vital, because I think strategy in the race will be more important.. I am not worried about the hot conditions.”

Rubens Barrichello : “Basically I think I drove a good lap apart from the fact that I lost a bit on the brakes at the beginning of the lap due to a change in set-up on the car, which made the brakes feel a little bit different. Bridgestone has done a phenomenal job to provide us with a tyre that has allowed us to be competitive again in qualifying. I have a good strategy and I know I can expect to have a very consistent performance level in the race. So I really hope I can get a good result.”

Ross Brawn : “I am absolutely delighted with this performance as it has been a hard year for us. Everyone, particularly Bridgestone, has kept working and we could see from the beginning of the weekend that we have a very strong tyre here and we have had the proof of that today. It proves we never gave up and we will do our best to repeat today’s performance tomorrow in the race. Of course, this is not just down to the tyres. We have had some updates to the aero package over the last few races and they have also contributed to this result.”

First pole position of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, set by Michael Schumacher. For the 179th time a Scuderia driver has set the fastest time in qualifying, the seventh at this circuit. Michael starts from pole for the 64th time in his career, the seventh at the Hungaroring.

Qualifying session; Michael Schumacher: 1st 1.19.882 3 laps chassis 245; Rubens Barrichello: 7th 1.21.158 3 laps chassis 246; Temperatures: air 34° C, track 49°
 

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29.07.2005

Rubens Barrichello in seventh place and Michael Schumacher, 24th and last is how Scuderia Ferrari ended the first day of practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix

Report & Photos: Ferrari: © 2005 Interfuture Media/Italiaspeed