European GP: Red Bull Saturday qualifying notes

Comments from the Red Bull team after qualifying for the European Grand Prix

David Coulthard:

"We're struggling a bit here. In Monte Carlo we had the advantage of knowing the circuit very well; but we'll do what we can. The track conditions had changed since the morning. It seemed dirtier following the Porsche Supercup race and the track temperature had increased. I think it got up to 47° C, which can affect the car's balance."

"We dropped some aero out of the car after this morning's practice, but I still had some over-steer and locked up in to the hairpin. It's always a compromise when you have fuel on board and such high temperatures. I don't think we could have done anymore than be in front of the two BARs."

Tonio Liuzzi:

"The balance of the car felt very good until the last section when I had a problem braking in to the chicane. The rear locked and I lost a huge amount of time there, which killed my qualifying session a little. I'm disappointed, until that point we'd done a very good lap."

Christian Horner, Sporting Director:

"David had the handicap of running early in the session, but he built time through the lap and had an excellent last sector, which put him in front of both BAR cars. He'll start from a credible 12th position tomorrow."

"Tonio had the benefit of running slightly later but, unfortunately, he made a small mistake when he ran a little deep into the chicane and lost his time advantage. However, to finish one tenth of a second behind David is very respectable and it'll be interesting to see how things pan out tomorrow with the teams' different strategies."

Günther Steiner, Technical Director:

"There was nothing unexpected today. It was a very predictable qualifying and we hope to pick up some points with our strategy tomorrow. We can still finish in the points, it'll be difficult of course, but we will fight for it."

David Coulthard
Chassis Number: 3
Time: 1:32.553
Position: 12
Engine: TJ 032

Tonio Liuzzi
Chassis Number: 1
Time: 1:32.642
Position: 14
Engine: TJ 025

-redbull-