German GP McLaren Saturday notes

West McLaren Mercedes driver Mika Hakkinen will start tomorrow's Mobil 1 German Grand Prix from third position after setting a time of 1:38.811. David Coulthard qualified fifth with a time of 1:39.574. Neither driver used their allocated 12 laps as the yellow flags came out shortly before the end of the session.

Mika Hakkinen
"I'm pleased with today's performance as we got the best out of the car and I'm the fastest of the Bridgestone runners. I had a problem during this morning's practice and lost some running time. However the team still did an excellent job and improved the car throughout practice. The team decided to abort the third run and conserve tyres when they realised I was able to hold my third position. Now I look forward to the race."

David Coulthard
"I'm disappointed with today's performance. My engineers and I have struggled with a balance problem, which caused my car to oversteer pretty badly. It also meant that one of my rear tyres blistered during my second run. I didn't do my last run as I saw yellow flags being waved and my engineers wished to conserve my fourth set of tyres. We will work hard to find a solution so we can be competitive in the race."

Ron Dennis
"A tough qualifying session which saw both drivers work hard to get the best result out of a very difficult and competitive situation. Tomorrow's weather is forcasted to be even hotter, which should assist us in getting good race results."

Norbert Dennis
"A very good performance from Mika. Having qualified third and fifth we have a good basis for tomorrow's race."

Chassis:
Hakkinen: MP4/16-07
Coulthard: MP4/16-05
Spare (Coulthard): MP4/16-04