German GP: Williams Saturday qualifying notes

The BMW WilliamsF1 Team pairing of Juan Pablo Montoya and Antonio Pizzonia today qualified in 2nd and 11th for tomorrow's German Grand Prix. For the third time this season, a BMW WilliamsF1 Team driver will line up on the front row of the grid.

Juan Pablo Montoya:

"It is really nice to be back at the front and to be in good shape again. WillliamsF1 and BMW have been working very hard and our package has improved a lot. Since Magny- Cours, we have had some new aero parts on the car and they have proved very successful. In my qualifying lap, I made a mistake in the corner before the stadium and so I lost a bit of time, which probably cost me pole position, and the chance of starting on the clean side of the track."

"Anyway, we have a very good race car. Actually, this is a much better car than I've had in the last few races so I think it's realistic to think we could get a podium finish tomorrow. Compared to how it handled during yesterday's Free Practice, it is easier to drive and is definitely more stable."

Antonio Pizzonia:

"Obviously this is a disappointing result, especially when we did so well in pre-qualifying. In my final qualifying lap, the car felt different as we made some changes to it between the two sessions which made it unexpectedly hard to drive. I think we have a good race car though so we will try and score points tomorrow."

Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1):

"Juan did a good job in today's qualifying and is now in a good position starting the race from second place on the grid. His lap time also shows that the improvements we've made to the car are starting to take effect. Hopefully we will now be able to have a strong race tomorrow. Although Antonio put in the second quickest time in the pre-qualifying session, he unfortunately didn't manage to put together a good lap in the final qualifying. It is now going to be tough for him to gain positions in the race, but he has to push hard to get points."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"Pre-qualifying was excellent and qualifying was good for the team. Juan Pablo will start from the front row, although his qualifying lap was not ideal in the third sector. In pre-qualifying, Antonio was as quick as Juan but he was too careful in the final session. I believe in the race Michael Schumacher will be the favourite, but we will see very close competition behind him."

Juan Pablo Montoya
2nd, 1:13.668
Chassis: FW26 06
(T-car FW05)

Antonio Pizzonia
11th, 1:14.556
Chassis: FW26 07

-williams-