Formula 1
Brazilian GP: BAR Saturday qualifying notes
Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button will start tomorrow's Brazilian Grand Prix from the 6th and 7th rows of the grid after qualifying 11th and 13th respectively in today's one-lap shoot-out. Yesterday's downpour brought chaos to first qualifying, ...
Published: Apr 6, 2003, 10:48 PM
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Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button will start tomorrow's Brazilian Grand Prix from the 6th and 7th rows of the grid after qualifying 11th and 13th respectively in today's one-lap shoot-out.
Yesterday's downpour brought chaos to first qualifying, so both Lucky Strike B*A*R Honda drivers were relieved to maximise track time in the drying conditions of this morning's practice. Conditions were warm and sunny for final qualifying this afternoon, with Jenson leading the drivers out of the pit lane as a consequence of his spectacular 'off' in yesterday's session. Jacques left the garage 30 minutes later lining up 16th for his flying lap.
Jenson Button:
"My time was a little slower than this morning and the last sector was a couple of tenths down from where it should have been. It's so difficult to go out first because you've got to get rid of the hot air out on the circuit. The race set-up isn't too bad and I think we have gone in the right direction in terms of the strategy, but I think we can make a few adjustments that will help us tomorrow."
Jacques Villeneuve:
"I'm disappointed to be starting the race from 13th position. The most annoying thing is that as soon as I accelerated out of turn one, the engine noise changed rapidly. I lost a lot of power and that stayed for the whole lap so it's very frustrating. Our speed was down as well so I hope we can identify the problem and deal with it for the race because, if not, it will be a big problem."
David Richards, Team Principal:
"We marginally underperformed with both cars today, Jenson because he was first on the track and Jacques with a technical problem, possibly an exhaust. It's all too easy to look back on qualifying and wish you'd pumped out a little more fuel and run lighter, but I'm confident that our strategy is very sound for the race tomorrow."
Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director:
"It is always difficult to comment on Saturday qualifying since fuel loads have such a significant effect on grid position. It is quite possible that some high qualifiers have compromised their race strategies. I think both our drivers could have been faster; Jenson was disadvantaged by running first and Jacques had a mechanical or engine problem which we have yet to confirm but will investigate when we get the car back from parc ferme. We look forward to the race tomorrow when I hope we will continue to run reliably. Our aim is to finish in the points again, this time with both drivers."
Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development:
"Although I was hoping for slightly higher grid positions today I'm still confident that our strategy is correct for the race tomorrow."
Jacques Villeneuve:
Chassis: BAR Honda 005-2
Position: 13th
Lap time: 1:14.668
Jenson Button:
Chassis: BAR Honda 005-4
Position: 11th
Lap time: 1:14.504
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