German GP: Williams Saturday qualifying notes

A strong performance by the BMW WilliamsF1 Team. At the very hot Hockenheimring Juan Pablo Montoya achieved the 11th pole of his F1 career and team- mate Ralf Schumacher qualified just behind, by two hundredths of seconds, which means he will start tomorrow's German Grand Prix next to Montoya. This is the third time this season that both the BMW WilliamsF1 Team cars will start a race from the front row, after the Canadian and French GPs.

Juan Pablo Montoya:

"Finally I've got my first pole of this season, It's taken me a long time to get it! It's the second time I am on pole on this track, after 2001. The car was working really good today and we've pulled together, got through a lot of hard work and it's paid off. I am also confident that we are going to have a good race tomorrow. In these conditions tomorrow's race will be hard both physically and mentally. It will also test the reliability of all the cars. Hopefully we can score some good points for both championships."

Ralf Schumacher:

"I am pleased to be on the front row, especially because I had big understeer in the last two corners, which cost me some time. Thanks to the team who did an excellent job, since the car wasn't that perfect yesterday morning or this morning. Last year I was a bit unlucky on this track and I hope I ca make up for that disappointing race. Tomorrow the tarmac could be as hot as 55°C and in such conditions anything can happen."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"It was a solid job from the team to get both the cars onto the front row and it puts us in a strong position for tomorrow's race. The aerodynamic improvements we brought to this circuit are clearly another step forward. Also Michelin once again provided us with a very good tyre for the heat. We are obviously feeling confident going into tomorrow's German Grand Prix."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director):

"It was a trouble free and just perfect qualifying session for us. It is what you dream of for your home grand prix. We are obviously ideally placed for the race and we hope we will fight for victory here. But with these high temperatures, it is extremely difficult to predict how tyre degradation and general reliability will be over the race distance."

Juan Pablo Montoya: 1st
Chassis: FW25 06
Best time: 1:15,167min

Ralf Schumacher: 2nd
Chassis: FW25 07
(T-car FW 04)
Best time: 1:15,185min

-williams-