Brazilian GP Saturday Benetton notes

Brazilian GP / Qualifying Session April 10 1999 Chassis Numbers: Car No.9 - Giancarlo Fisichella - Mild Seven Benetton Playlife B199 04 Car No.10 - Alexander Wurz - Mild Seven Benetton Playlife B199 05 Second Timed Session: 10 th - 1:18.635 - ...

Brazilian GP / Qualifying Session April 10 1999

Chassis Numbers: Car No.9 - Giancarlo Fisichella - Mild Seven Benetton Playlife B199 04 Car No.10 - Alexander Wurz - Mild Seven Benetton Playlife B199 05

Second Timed Session: 10 th - 1:18.635 - Giancarlo Fisichella 13 th - 1:18.896 - Alexander Wurz

Giancarlo Fisichella qualified in 5th position and will start the Brazilian Grand Prix tomorrow from the third row of the grid. Alexander Wurz posted the 9th fastest time and will therefore start from the 5th row.

Giancarlo Fisichella : 5 th - 1'17.810 "When everyone is so close qualifying is always really hard. All you need is to make a tiny error and you find yourself two rows further back. The practice session this morning was interrupted by Zonta's accident, so I could only try one type of tyre and this made it very difficult to decide which to use for qualifying and for the race. Now I am convinced we made the correct choice. At the end of the session we made a mechanical change to the set-up which enabled me to qualify fifth fastest. If I had risked a bit more I could have scraped off another tenth, but I was very close to the limit and the slightest error would have compromised everything. At the end of the day I am very pleased with the third row."

Alexander Wurz : 9 th - 1'18.334 "The car improved throughout the session, but I am not very satisfied with my result. I made a few small mistakes on my flying laps that cost me time and therefore grid positions. My main problems were with grip and balance, but I am positive for tomorrow as we know where can make some improvements."

Joan Villadelprat, Operations Director & Team Manager: "It is a great result for Giancarlo today. The team did a great job to have the car qualify fifth fastest and this puts us in a strong position for a good result tomorrow. It was an unfortunate session for Alexander though. We struggled with the balance on his car all day and never managed to get it quite right. However ninth is not a bad position to start the race from and both cars are looking strong for the race tomorrow."