Chinese GP: McLaren Saturday qualifying notes

West McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen will start tomorrow's inaugural Chinese Grand Prix from the front row after setting a time of 1:34.178 in today's qualifying session. Team mate David Coulthard's time of 1:35.029 was tenth fastest, but he will start from ninth as Sato, who qualified in front of David, has had an engine change.

Kimi Raikkonan:

"The entire team is always pleased to be on the front row but at the first Formula One race in China it's particularly important for us all. The car has felt good right from the beginning of the weekend and I have really been able to push. The track conditions had changed a bit overnight, and we used the morning's two practice sessions to perfect the set-up and it worked."

"I made a small mistake on my qualifying lap coming onto the final straight, but I don't think it cost me enough time to have claimed pole position. The important thing is that our package and the Michelin tyres are working well, and as we have a good strategy for the race I'm sure we are in with a chance of winning."

David Coulthard:

"That was a tricky qualifying. I had oversteer during my pre-qualifying, and we made a few adjustments to the set-up of the car just before qualifying, but we couldn't improve the handling dramatically. I lost about four tenths in the middle sector especially in turns eight and nine. It will be a tough race tomorrow particularly from ninth position on the grid, but we will see what happens in the first corner."

Ron Dennis: