German GP: McLaren Saturday qualifying notes

Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard will start tomorrow's Mobil 1 Grand Prix from fifth and tenth positions after setting times of 1:15.874 and 1:16.666 respectively.

Kimi Raikkonen:

"I thought my lap was OK but not quite good enough for a top three position. During the last couple of corners I got a bit too much understeer and lost a little bit of time, but things are not too bad. We are in front of Michael and you never know what strategy the others are on for the race. The Michelin tyres seem to be working well and I'm on the clean side of the track and have made a few good starts recently so it should be an exciting race tomorrow. It's very hot out of there and they say it will get even hotter tomorrow, but its not too bad once you are in the car working."

David Coulthard:

"Until this morning's second free practice session everything was going according to plan and I felt we were making steady progress. Unfortunately I went off during the second session following a set up change, the effects of which we underestimated and had to qualify in the spare car. I was not as comfortable and seemed to be losing out at the low speed sections of the track. However I have started from the fifth row before and made my way up the field during the race so let's see what happens tomorrow."

Ron Dennis:

"A difficult session for everybody, and the high temperatures, which I'm told will increase tomorrow, will continue to play a significant role. Tyre performance will be critical and our Michelins are performing well at the moment. We look forward to an interesting and very hot race tomorrow."

Norbert Haug:

"Taking into account that Kimi will start the race from fifth but ahead of Championship leader Michael Schumacher his qualifying result is not too bad, and we will try to achieve the same in the race. Unfortunately David had to qualify in the T-car which affected his chances of achieving a better result. We will only see in tomorrow's race what the grid positions will be worth."

David Coulthard: MP4-17D 08
Kimi Raikkonen: MP4-17D 09
T-car (David): MP4-17D 07
Spare:MP4-17D 06

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