Australian GP: Jaguar Saturday qualifying notes

A day of mixed emotions at Jaguar Racing today as Mark Webber (27) and Christian Klien (21) took to the track at Albert Park (Melbourne) to take part in the new Saturday qualifying session. After a successful practice session in the morning in cooler conditions both Mark and Christian had good first phase qualifying sessions that gave them their positions for final qualifying. Christian was 7th to head out on track but by corner one he had suffered a suspected hydraulic failure which pushed him off track, leaving him no choice but to abandon his lap and come into the pits. He will start from 19th place on the grid tomorrow. Mark was 12th out on track and delivered a clean lap to see him finish with an excellent time of 1:25.805 allowing him to start in 6th tomorrow and on the third row of the grid at his home race.

Mark Webber
Position: 6th
Best time: 1.25.805
Chassis: R5- 03

It's been a great weekend for me so far and to be starting my home race tomorrow from 6th of the grid is fantastic. I had a good practice session this morning when we worked on balance and set-up. The boys have done a great job in preparing the car for me and both Cosworth Racing and Michelin have more than delivered. I was hoping to be in the top ten and after I saw Takuma Sato's time I knew I had to do a good clean lap if I had a chance of topping him. The first corner can be tricky as you really have to control your aggression and so I was glad to see the back of it. There was definitely more grip out there this afternoon which made my job easier and that allowed me to extract a couple extra tenths. I can't wait for tomorrow, it's going to be a long afternoon but very exciting.

Christian Klien
Position: 19th
Best time: DNF
Chassis: R5- 01

The weekend had been going so well for me so it is very disappointing to have not completed my first Formula One qualifying lap. The balance on the car had been excellent this morning and I had really enjoyed my first qualifying session. It appears that as I approached corner one I suffered a hydraulic failure and as it pushed me off track I just focused on controlling the car. I immediately abandoned my lap and came in and as a result I will be starting in 19th position, slightly lower than I had hoped! However I know that these things can happen and I am already focusing on the race tomorrow and concentrating on doing the best that I can in my first Formula One race.

Dr Mark Gillan
Head of Vehicle Performance

Free Practice was good for us this morning and both drivers were very happy with the set-ups that we had achieved. Going in to qualifying we were confident that we had a good package however, unfortunately Christian suffered a hydraulic failure which forced him to abandon his lap and we are disappointed with this. He has done a great job all weekend and it would have been good to have seen him rewarded with a good qualifying lap.We will be working on the car today to ensure that Christian has a good package going into tomorrow. Mark's had a good weekend too and to see him qualifying 6th is fantastic. He drove a good clean lap and really extracted the best from the R5. The track conditions were good and I am pleased with our performance so far. Our unspectacular and methodical approach during winter testing is clearly paying dividends and we are well placed to make a charge for points tomorrow. We believe in our approach and so far it has demonstrated very clear progress versus last year's car.

Weather:           Dry and Sunny

Track Temp:     36-38 degrees

Air temp:          23-24 degrees

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