Bahrain GP: Jaguar Saturday qualifying notes

Christian Klien (21) and Mark Webber (27) qualified twelfth and fourteenth respectively in today's qualifying session ahead of tomorrow's inaugural Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. After working through a practice programme in the morning sessions both drivers drove confidently with only Mark suffering a minor mistake in sector one. The track is continuing to change as more rubber is put down. Tomorrow's race will be the first Formula One race to be held at the new track and with some tight corners and its undulations, it should prove entertaining.

Mark Webber:

"We continued to work on set-up and balance this morning and we completed our programme as planned. I was pleased with how the car was feeling but unfortunately qualifying this afternoon was not an accurate reflection of where we should be and what the R5 is capable of. The grip levels reduced slightly in my second session and I made a couple of minor mistakes in section one and obviously this was frustrating for me. I tried to get it back but I couldn't so hence my qualifying position. The track has some good over-taking opportunities so we will have to make the most of these in tomorrow's race."

Christian Klien:

"My lap was not perfect this afternoon and so I am not best pleased with my final qualifying position. I feel that the track had changed since this morning's sessions so it was different going out this afternoon. I felt that because of this the car was slightly more nervous under braking and so it was more difficult to extract the best from the R5. There really is only one good line out there so tomorrow is going to be interesting. If you go off-line the track is really dirty and this could make overtaking slightly more challenging. I have started further down the grid than twelfth before so to be honest I am going to really enjoy tomorrow and I am looking forward to the start. It is my first race where experience matters less so I will be giving it my best shot."

Dr Mark Gillan -- Head of Vehicle Performance:

"The R5 has been strong all weekend and both Mark and Christian have been delivering some encouraging times. It's good to see Christian matching the times of Mark at this track as this is the first race weekend where the other drivers are all learning the layout of the circuit too. I was slightly disappointed though to see us in twelfth and fourteenth at the end of today's qualifying. Both drivers suffered from slightly less grip in this afternoon's session and I know that Mark made a couple of minor mistakes and could have extracted a few more tenths. Saying that, we have a good strategy in place for tomorrow's race and with that I am looking forward to the start of the first Bahrain Grand Prix."

Mark Webber
Position: 14th
Best time: 1:32.625
Chassis: R5- 03

Christian Klien
Position: 12th
Best time: 1:32.332
Chassis: R5- 01

-jaguar-