French GP: McLaren Saturday qualifying notes

Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard will start tomorrow's Mobil 1 French Grand Prix from fourth and fifth on the grid after setting times of 1:15.533 and 1:15.628 respectively.

Kimi Raikkonen:

"I think we did the best we could, and hopefully it will pay off tomorrow. I struggled a bit with understeer in the third sector, which cost me some time but apart from that I'm quite pleased with our starting positions. The Michelins have been working well and the hotter the weather gets, the better as far as I'm concerned. We will see what happens in the race, but I think we are in strong positions to score important championship points."

David Coulthard:

"A better qualifying for me than in previous races so in that respect I'm pleased. I was driving defensively to try and keep the lap tidy. Now I already look back and know that I could be a couple of tenths quicker if I had pushed more. The car responded well, and I was able to get through turn 13 quickly where we have struggled somewhat so far. I'm confident that we can have a strong race."

Ron Dennis, team principal:

"Both drivers put in tidy laps which coupled with our race strategy should give us a very good opportunity for good results tomorrow."

Norbert Haug, Mercedes motorsport director:

"A solid basis for the race. Kimi and David are within half and one and a half tenths behind the Championship leader Michael Schumacher on the second and third row. It will be interesting to see who will be on which strategy in tomorrow's race."

David Coulthard: MP4-17D 08
Kimi Raikkonen: MP4-17D 09
T-car (David): MP4-17D 06
Spare: MP4-17D 05

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