Canadian GP: BAR Saturday notes

Jacques Villeneuve
"I'm definitely pleased with our performance today. I was a little bit worried yesterday because we were playing around with fuel but we did better than I expected today. We managed to improve the car overnight and that gave us an acceptable qualifying today, so I'm quite happy. It was too bad that we had an engine problem on the last run because we timed it just right before the rain came and could have improved the lap. I think we're in a position to fight in the race tomorrow and hopefully get a point. We're not quick enough down the straights but we're in a good position overall."

Olivier Panis
"After the first signs of improvement with the car on Friday, I felt we had the potential for a top 10 qualifying position today. Jacques proved that to be the case and I had the car to do the same, so I'm disappointed with 11th. I had a gearshift problem at the end of my first lap which we corrected in time for the 2nd run. The first two sectors of my 2nd and 3rd runs were very good but we just couldn't squeeze more on the third sector. We turned the car around quickly for my last run but it started raining when I left the garage. Still, we have to look on the positive side and be pleased with the improvement in the overall package."

Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director
"We're reasonably happy with what we've achieved today, which is our best team qualifying result of the season. We had hoped to do a little better and put both cars inside the top 10, but we did at least see the realistic potential for that today. Without Jacques' engine problem on the last run, we certainly had room for further improvement. We're in a good position for tomorrow so our aim is to get both cars home and be there to make the most of a points-scoring opportunity."

David Richards, Team Principal
"We achieved a solid qualifying performance today which confirmed the view that we are heading in the right direction with the latest evolution of the car. We are in a good position to challenge for points tomorrow and, with Jacques performing in front of his home crowd, let's hope we can deliver a good result."