German GP: Williams Friday qualifying notes

The German Grand Prix weekend started in the best possible way, with Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya achieving respectively the fastest and the second fastest times in the First Qualifying session. This is also the best Friday result so far this season for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team.

Ralf Schumacher:

"I am quite surprised to be at the front, since I took it quite easy on my qualifying lap. My car was simply perfect, brilliantly balanced and the tyres behaved very well too. I can only be happy with this result, also because it shows that we have solved a few problems we had in this morning's Free Practice. Now I am looking forward to a good qualifying and a good race, especially because the weather forecast is predicting hot conditions, which will suit our package."

Juan Pablo Montoya:

"I am pleased with my first qualifying lap, as my car had a good balance after we sorted out the small problems we had this morning. I could have done slightly better if I hadn't braked too early into the hairpin but all in all I am happy with this afternoon's performance. Moreover, we are well set both for tomorrow's qualifying and I believe we look good for the race too."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"We have had a good day today with both cars being at the front. Of course, it is only the first qualifying but still it gives an idea of the pace. This morning we did a lot of our set up work for the race, and we are confident for what looks to be hot weather coming up for the weekend. Again the designers have brought more improvement to the cars with new parts."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director):

"This is a perfect result for a Friday. I believe on this track we are well prepared in every aspect for a strong race on Sunday. We have to remember that the old circuit is quite different from the new one. It is no longer about only having a powerful engine, but rather about having a good package, such as chassis, tyres and obviously driver. On this circuit we are clearly well set, just like we were in the past few races."

Ralf Schumacher: 1st
Chassis: FW25 07
(Spare car FW 04)
Best time: 1.14,427 min

Juan Pablo Montoya: 2nd
Chassis: FW25 06
Best time: 1.14,673 min

-williams-