Chinese GP: Ferrari Saturday qualifying notes

Chinese GP - Qualifying

Jean Todt:

"The final qualifying of the season and the last one for Rubens at the wheel of a Ferrari, did not throw up anything particularly surprising. Sixth and eighth places are pretty much what we could have expected. A more detailed analysis of this session would take into account the different fuel loads which the various cars had on board and the track conditions when each driver made his run."

"Reliability, strategy and tyre performance and wear will be key factors in tomorrow's race. For our part, we no longer have any particular targets in the two Championships. But we will do our utmost to close this very tough season in as dignified a fashion as possible."

Michael Schumacher:

"My initial feeling about my lap was that it was not very good, but when I look at the actual lap time, I have to be happy with that. It could have been worse and, given our strategy, we look to be in a good position for tomorrow. I don't expect to be quicker than those ahead of me on the grid, but given what can happen in the race, I think realistically, we can expect to fight for points between fourth and sixth place."

"On my lap, I made a small mistake, running wide at Turn 2, but it did not cost me as much time as I thought. Maybe the very best I could have done was to be ahead of Juan Pablo. But that would not have been much of an advantage as he will be quicker than me in the race anyway."

Rubens Barrichello:

"It was a reasonable qualifying, even though the track was definitely not at its best when it was my turn to make my run. I am reasonably pleased. Maybe I could have been a few places further up, but all in all, this is okay. Tomorrow, I will give it my best shot to try and get the best result possible in my last race at the wheel of a Ferrari."

Ross Brawn:

"Both drivers produced reasonable laps, although neither of them was particularly clean, so maybe we could have squeezed a couple of extra tenths about. Nevertheless, pretty good and the tyres held up well for the full lap. I think the result for both cars is pretty much what we had expected before the session. We have a good strategy for tomorrow, so I hope that means we can pick up a few places in the race."

Michael Schumacher: 6th
1:35.301, 3 laps
Chassis: 249

Rubens Barrichello: 8th
1:35.610, 3 laps
Chassis: 248

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