German GP: Jaguar Saturday notes

A disappointing qualifying session for Jaguar Racing today saw Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa placed 16th and 20th respectively for tomorrow's German Grand Prix. The revised Hockenheim track proved too much for the Jaguar R3 as both drivers suffered with mid-corner understeer issues and failed to find an optimum set-up around the relatively unfamiliar circuit. The track temperature rose steadily over the qualifying hour with Eddie and Pedro opting for a different tyre choice to each other. Given the team's improved showing at last weekend's French Grand Prix, a better qualifying performance was expected and tomorrow's 67-lap race will inevitably be a very challenging one for Jaguar Racing.

Niki Lauda CEO and Team Principal

"Given the recent all-round improvements that we have made to this car, I was expecting our drivers to qualify a little closer to the top ten. We seem to be about two or three tenths slower than expected and different tyre compounds can explain the difference between the two drivers today. The hotter track temperature should have played more into our hands, but the gain wasn't that significant in the end. Both drivers suffered at the hands of understeer today, with Pedro coming off the worst. Tomorrow's race will be very tough for us and given that no one has ever raced on this new circuit, we need to be well placed to take full advantage of any mistakes that others may commit around us."

Eddie Irvine

"My first lap wasn't very good because the track felt so different compared to the morning warm-up sessions but each run got better after that. The car was suffering from mid-corner understeer throughout the whole session and it's a surprise given how good it felt this morning. The lap time we did in yesterday's Free Practice with a heavier fuel load proves that our qualifying performance fell short somewhere. Either that or the track has simply gone away from us. Starting from 16th place isn't the ideal scenario and we'll have to work even harder now at getting the maximum from this package in race trim."

Pedro de la Rosa

"I chose a different tyre compound to Eddie and knew it was a risky decision to take. The gamble didn't pay off in the end, but I think we'll make up for it in the race tomorrow. I never really managed to get four clean laps in today and found myself running wide into the new stadium section twice. It's a shame because my lap times were better on both runs and without any errors, I should have been at least three tenths further up the order. This is quite a challenging track and combined with the slippery surface, I think tomorrow's race will throw up a few surprises which we will be looking to capitalise on."

Eddie Irvine
Position: 16th
Best Time: 1:16.533
Chassis: R3-05
T-Car: R3-06

Pedro de la Rosa
Position: 20th
Best Time: 1:17.077
Chassis: R3-04

-Jaguar-