Canadian GP Bridgestone qualifying notes

Four-time winner of the Canadian Grand Prix Michael Schumacher will start tomorrow's race from pole position for the 6th time. Having driven his fastest lap, the Ferrari driver was able to sit back and watch a last-minute effort by other drivers, held up by a break at the end of the session after Nick Heidfeld's Sauber Petronas hit the wall at the notorious last corner of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Schumacher's brother Ralf will start on the front row for BMW Williams, while David Coulthard was able to put in a quick lap with seconds to go to finish the day 3rd for West McLaren Mercedes. Jarno Trulli, whose B&H Jordan Honda team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen will not race after experiencing dizziness and headaches following an accident yesterday, qualified 4th. Frentzen has been replaced by test driver Ricardo Zonta. Rubens Barrichello will start the race from 5th place for Ferrari, while Olivier Panis completed the top six for BAR Honda.

Ross Brawn -- Technical Director, Ferrari
"Obviously this was a very good pole position for Michael, everything went smoothly and we had no problems. He is pleased with the car's handling. After hitting the wall at the last corner, Rubens had to take the T-car which was set up for Michael. His last run at the very end was ambitious because instead of being able to conserve the tyres he had to push quite hard to be able to start another qualifying lap before the chequered flag. But it's a long race tomorrow so even 5th for Rubens is not so bad. The kerbs on the last corner are demanding, but the tyres should be OK and they seem to be holding up well."

Tim Holloway -- Head of Engineering, Jordan
"Jarno did a good job today, he had three good runs. The tyres were very consistent and we were happy with the car's balance for qualifying but the race is very different. I think it is very difficult for any driver to return to race duties half-way through a grand prix meeting and by this time in the season the other drivers know their cars very well, so Ricardo did a good job today. He made a slight mistake on his last run which cost him a bit of time but otherwise he was fine."

Hisao Suganuma - Technical Manager, Bridgestone
"The fact that eight of the top nine qualifiers are using Bridgestone tyres is encouraging. However, it will be a tough race tomorrow as this is a demanding track. We are looking for consistency in the tyres, while the kerbs demand good damping capability in the tyres' construction. We do believe they are more than capable of a one-stop strategy tomorrow. Some cars ran on used front tyres today, some used fresh tyres."