Canadian GP: Williams Saturday qualifying notes

It was a very strong performance from the BMW WilliamsF1 Team. Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya will both start from the front row for the 2003 Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday. This is the first one-two on the grid since the German and the Belgian GPs in 2001 and the European GP in 2002. Ralf set his third pole of his career and his second consecutive pole position. This is the 13th pole position for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team since the partnership started in 2000.

Ralf Schumacher:

"I had a really good lap. My car was well balanced and everything worked out well. Also the weather conditions seem to suit our Michelin tyres pretty well - it is not too cold and just a bit damp. Furthermore I believe we are on a good race strategy, but just two weeks ago I experienced what can happen and change over a race distance. Of course it is my target to win here having missed out in Monaco, especially as I really like this circuit and Montreal a lot. I am sure we are facing an exciting race."

Juan Pablo Montoya:

"I am quite surprised we are on the first row today, we knew we could be competitive but we didn't expect to be so far up. I made a little mistake in the first sector at turn three and I lost a bit of time there and also maybe the tyres that we decided to go for with my car at the last minute were not the ideal, but all in all I believe we are in a pretty good shape. It is clear that under dry conditions our tyres are a lot more competitive than in the wet. We should have a good race tomorrow as we have a very good package and a lot of power."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"It is a fantastic day for us having both cars on the front row. The drivers and the engineers did a brilliant job getting the cars to where they were under these difficult conditions as the final qualifying actually was the first completely dry session. We are very confident for tomorrow's race regarding the strategy and the tyres."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"It was almost one year ago, at the Nurburgring, since we were on the first row with both the cars. After the pole and the victory in Monaco today's performance proves we definitely are on an improving curve. The key factor for our success was that the track became completely dry at noon. Both the drivers had good laps, Ralf's an excellent one. We didn't think we could achieve such good starting positions after our poor perfomance on Friday. Huge compliments to all the team!"

Ralf Schumacher: 1st
Chassis: FW25 05
Best time: 1.15,529 min

Juan Pablo Montoya: 2nd
Chassis: FW25 06
Best time: 1.15.923 min

-williams-