Austrian GP Saturday McLaren notes

Chassis Numbers: Mika Hakkinen MP4 - 14/05 David Coulthard MP4 - 14/07 T. Car MP4 - 14/02

Miika Hakkinen and David Coulthard both experienced initial problems when they started the West McLaren Mercedes bid for pole position in today's qualifying session. These took the form of a fuel pump problem on Mika's car and an electronic glitch on David's. But, once Mika changed to the T. Car and David's car had been reprogrammed, both drivers went on to put in the fastest times of the day. Mika claimed pole position with a 1:10.954 whilst David will start beside his team-mate from the front row of the grid on a 1:11.153.

MIKA HAKKINEN 'I had to change to the T.Car as my race car cut out at the exit of the pit lane and that always makes you feel a bit nervous, although the T. Car is exactly the same as your race car. But it was great teamwork and we got the right result. This is a tough grand prix, hard on the cars and brakes with many things that can happen, but I am going to go flat out and try to gain the maximum from the race.'

DAVID COULTHARD 'I had a small electronic problem at the start of the session which I came back in to check before starting my qualifying laps. But apart from that, I have felt really comfortable with the car all weekend and I think we should have a great race tomorrow. I have been quick all weekend and I think that if we have reliability, the same conditions, then we expect the race to be very close.'

RON DENNIS 'A satisfying qualifying session for both drivers in which they got most of the performance from their cars. Mika suffered a fuel pump failure on his race car and he did the whole of qualifying in the T.Car. This is particularly pleasing for the mechanics who work on this car as they rarely get the opportunity to enjoy a pole position. David had a small problem on his first lap because of a programming error but this was quickly rectified.'

NORBERT HAUG 'Our team gave a great performance today. Mika had to use the T.Car and posted the fastest lap of the weekend which is an outstanding job. David being less than two tenths of a second slower in second spot made this session a perfect one for us.'