Bahrain GP: McLaren Saturday qualifying notes

West McLaren Mercedes driver David Coulthard qualified tenth for tomorrow's inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix with a fastest time of 1.31.719. Team mate Kimi Raikkonen will start from the back of the grid as the team decided to optimise his race strategy by not having the Finn do a timed lap in the second qualifying session.

David Coulthard:

"Our difficult weekend continues as we have just not been able to get the package working to our advantage. The car feels OK through corners 11 and 12 but apart from that it's really difficult to find the speed. The plan for tomorrow's race is to get a good start and gain a couple of places and then keep out of trouble and aim for reliability. The circuit is quite challenging, and I do like it, but I believe there is only a limited amount of overtaking opportunities, but we will have to wait and see."

Kimi Raikkonen:

"As we had to change my engine yesterday we knew that no matter where I qualified we would have to move 10 places down. As a result we decided to change our tactics so I can start with a good fuel load and new tyres. Hopefully this strategy will pay off tomorrow, but we will have to wait and see. In motor racing anything is possible and I will do my best and hopefully we can do well."

Ron Dennis:

"The drivers' comments have explained the circumstances of qualifying, but even in this difficult situation a racing team, irrespective of the magnitude of the challenge, has to focus on the race which is exactly what we are doing."

Norbert Haug:

"After Kimi's engine failure yesterday and his subsequent relegation by ten places, our aim had to be on focusing on the optimum race strategy. After two bad practice days our target must now be to finish in the points with both David and Kimi."

David Coulthard: MP4-19 03
Kimi Raikkonen: MP4-19 04
T-car (David): MP4-19 01

-mclaren-