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.”
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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 |
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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 |
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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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