European GP McLaren Saturday notes

Mika Hakkinen Chassis 04
David Coulthard Chassis 05
T-car Chassis 01

West McLaren Mercedes driver David Coulthard will start tomorrow's Warsteiner European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring from pole position after setting a time of 1:17.529. It's David's first pole since the 1998 Canadian Grand Prix and the ninth of his career. Mika Hakkinen qualified third after posting a time of 1:17.785. It began to rain slightly halfway through the session for about five minutes and the circuit never returned to its original condition.

MIKA HAKKINEN
'I'm not entirely satisfied with qualifying third but I haven't felt 100 percent comfortable with the car throughout the weekend. We have made a lot of progress and continued to do so throughout today's practice sessions and qualifying, but the car is still not performing at its optimum level. We will look at the data and find out where we can improve and look forward to the race tomorrow.'

DAVID COULTHARD
'Obviously I'm really happy to be on pole position. I was able to put in a good lap just before the rain began and even though it was a bit boring to wait for approximately 25 minutes in the garage, I was pretty sure that it would be hard to better my time. However tomorrow is another day and a lot can happen in the race, but I aim to be the first driver to win from pole position this year.'

RON DENNIS
'A good pole position from David. We were not quite able to optimise Mika's car but nevertheless a solid performance by the team in the variable weather conditions. Another few minutes would have seen the circuit completely dry and perhaps an exciting end to qualifying. In the circumstances we are reasonably pleased with our grid positions.'

NORBERT HAUG
'It was a fantastic lap by David. Mika in third place also has a good basis for a competitive race tomorrow. David and Mika are both in with a good chance of winning.'