European GP Saturday Williams notes

Weather: Overcast, 13 degrees average

A mixed result for the Winfield WilliamsF1 drivers Ralf Schumacher and Alex Zanardi, who were respectively fourth and 18th fastest in the qualifying session of the Grand Prix of Europe. The rain - which started to fall right after the free practice session - didn't spoil the positive performance of Ralf, who was second in the morning and a brilliant fourth in the afternoon qualifying, achieving his best position on the grid so far this season. Ralf started the session in his T-car, which was set for wet track conditions and turned then to his race car, set for dry conditions, as the track became drier. Alex Zanardi, who was trapped in the traffic on his fast lap at the end of the session, will start tomorrow from a poor position on the grid.

Ralf Schumacher

Best Position: 4th Chassis: FW21 06 T-Car chassis FW21-02 Best Time: 1:20.444

"Today's qualifying session was a true gamble. When you have qualifying like this, you can win everything or lose everything. I am very happy because I ended up in a strong position but if you look at Alex and Frentzen, for example, the first lost it all and the second won all. With such weather conditions everything is about being out on the track at the right time. You could go out at the last minute and waist your fast lap with a yellow flag or with a slow car in front of you, as happened to Alex, so you always need a bit of luck."

Alex Zanardi

Best Position: 18th Chassis: FW21 06 Best Time: 1:22.284

"Everybody knows that in the last minutes a qualifying session like this becomes a jungle. Unfortunately, in my first new-tyre lap I found Salo and Villeneuve in front of me, who slowed me down - particularly Jacques - as they did not want to be delayed themselves on their following laps. There is nothing you can do in this case. I lost more than a second there. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow to get a good result in the race."

Patrick Head, Technical Director

"It was a very mixed qualifying session for us with Ralf very close to the front and Alex very close to the back. Not having spoken with Alex yet, I assume he must have found traffic or had some problems in his last run. It is definitely a good grid position for Ralf - his best this year - and a good place to start the race from. I am sure many teams will be considering what might have been possible "if only…"

FRENTZEN GRABS POLE AT LAST GASP

The on form German Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen grabbed pole position in the last couple of minutes of the one hour qualifying session for the Grand Prix of Europe at the Nurburgring in Germany this afternoon, (Saturday).

Frentzen overcame a series of mechanical problems in practice to take full advantage of the drying track to lead the McLaren duo of David Coulthard and world champion Mika Hakkinen. In a hectic last ten minutes as the track dried after earlier rain, the pole position changed constantly.

Ralf Schumacher led briefly but finally finished on the second row after qualifying fourth in the Winfield WilliamsF1. His team-mate Alex Zanardi was not so fortunate and qualified 18th.