French GP: Williams Saturday notes

For the fifth time in a row - sixth in total this season - Juan Pablo Montoya achieved the best time in qualifying for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team and will start tomorrow's French Grand Prix from pole position. Team-mate Ralf Schumacher will start the ...

For the fifth time in a row - sixth in total this season - Juan Pablo Montoya achieved the best time in qualifying for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team and will start tomorrow's French Grand Prix from pole position. Team-mate Ralf Schumacher will start the Magny-Cours race from fifth place.

Juan Pablo Montoya

"This was really a good qualifying, probably my best so far. The fight with Michael was exciting. We didn't think we would get on pole here, as we thought at first that Ferrari was too quick. I had a very good last flying lap, but made a mistake in the last corner and lost a lot of time there. The car was brilliantly good and we made just a few changes throughout qualifying. Michelin has made a big step forward and has brought here some very consistent tyres which makes us confident for tomorrow's race."

Ralf Schumacher

"I still had some problems with the balance of my car. I must admit that it was my fault as I didn't manage to get it in qualifying. I am angry for this as much as I am for the mistake I made in the last corner of my last flying lap, where I lost the chance of getting a better starting position. After all, my grid position is not too bad."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"Again we have achieved an excellent qualifying result for the team. Juan did a fantastic job to achieve his fifth pole position in a row. The tyres obviously worked extremely well and we are going into tomorrow's race with more confidence than the previous races. Ralf did not quite get there, he was not too happy with the balance of his car. But he did a good job as well and has achieved a good starting position for the race."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director):

"Again this was an incredible show. It simply makes fun watching Juan Pablo. How he can exploit the maximum potential of the car. Compared to the past races we are in a better position here. We have both the cars in the top five, which is a good way to start a race."