French GP Saturday Williams notes

It was a positive qualifying session for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team, whose drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button will start from 5th and 10th places respectively for the 2000 French Grand Prix. Ralf today equalled his best qualifying position for the fourth time this season. After Silverstone, the team starts with both cars in the top 10.

Ralf Schumacher
Position: 5th
Chassis: FW22 02
T-car: FW22 03
Fastest Lap: 1:16.291 "I am very happy with today's qualifying result. To be honest I must say that I'm a little bit surprised to have finished fifth. After the test last week, I expected a position between seventh and 10th. The BMW WilliamsF1 Team sorted out all the problems and they were very well prepared for this qualifying session. I must also say that I like this track and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's race."

Jenson Button
Position: 10th
Chassis: FW22 04
Fastest Lap: 1.16.905 "I am very happy, mostly because I had a couple of poor qualifying sessions previous to this one. 10th on the grid is definitely a good position to start my first race here. When I came back in the garage in 10th position I thought it was great but then I saw Ralf who was going much faster than me and I was a little disappointed but I am happy for him. I like this track, especially the chicanes which are very fast and technical and demand a quick reaction -- it takes a bit of time to get used to them."

Patrick Head (Technical Director)
"Quite a good qualifying for us, after the fairly difficult test we had here last week. I think the engineers and the team as a whole has done a very good job to improve the car. Our interest now is to try to ensure we have a good race car for tomorrow. We are very impressed with both drivers. Ralf did a good lap on his first run and the second too was close but not an improvement. Then Irvine improved further still and Ralf was debating about whether to save his tyres or to do a run. We said we thought he could do it and he just went out and did it. Jenson, for his first time in a F1 car here, 10th on the grid in this company and in the car we gave him is a very good job."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director)
"This is one of our best results so far, with Ralf being just 6.59 tenths off pole. In the last three races we had lost rhythm due to crazy weather conditions and some accidents. It looks like we have found it again and this is a positive stroke for the whole team. I find it very impressive that in his last lap Ralf beat Irvine. Also Jenson's 10th position is one from which he can finish in the points. So far we didn't have any technical problems."