German GP: McLaren Saturday qualifying notes

Kimi Raikkonen will start tomorrow's Mobil 1 German Grand Prix from pole position having set the quickest time of 1:14.070 in the final qualifying session. Pedro de la Rosa's ninth fastest time of 1:15.936 means he will be lining up on the fifth row of the grid.

Kimi Raikkonen:

"It was great to get pole today as the car has been working really well all weekend. We had some new developments at the test last week and it is clear that they have moved us in the right direction. Obviously today is only half the story, but I like this track, and we will have to see what happens in the race tomorrow."

"Unfortunately I went off the track on my last flying lap, I knew I was slower than on my first attempt, so I pushed a bit harder and ran out of space on the corner, it is one of those things, but it didn't make any difference."

Pedro de la Rosa:

"Qualifying three was a bit messy for me and ninth place is not what I expected after it had gone so well in the first two qualifying sessions. The car has been handling really well throughout the weekend and our Michelin tyres performed consistently."

"Unfortunately Ralf Schumacher hit me at the hairpin and consequently my right rear tyre blew, obviously this was a misunderstanding of both parties. When I came into the pits there was rubber from the incident in my brake duct which caused a small fire. However I am looking forward to the race where we should be competitive."

Ron Dennis:

"Pole is a very good position to avoid any first lap incidents and allows Kimi the ability to race in clean air. I'm sure Pedro would have done better if it hadn't been for his collision with Ralf Schumacher. As you expect the team is looking forward to a competitive race."

Norbert Haug:

"A super qualifying lap by Kimi. Pole position at Mercedes-Benz's home Grand Prix is a nice reward for all the efforts of the team to further improve our technical package during the last few weeks. Our speed was good, and mostly the best in the Michelin camp, throughout all the sessions, and we chose an aggressive strategy."

"Pedro's performance was hampered when his right rear tyre was punctured following Ralf driving into him. We are now looking forward to tomorrow's German Grand Prix when we want to perform well in front of the many Mercedes-Benz supporters."

Chassis allocation
Kimi Raikkonen: MP4-21 05
Pedro de la Rosa: MP4-21 07
T-car (Kimi): MP4-21 04

-mclaren-