Hungarian GP: Ferrari Friday qualifying notes

Track conditions governe lap times

Jean Todt:

"This first day at the Hungaroring has allowed us to form initial impressions on the handling of the cars and performance of the tyres. Obviously, the results of first qualifying were heavily influenced by track conditions, which improved significantly after the start. We know we still have work to do on defining the cars' set-up, which is not yet at its best. We also have to work with our partners at Bridgestone to make our tyre choice. We still have ninety minutes of free practice tomorrow morning in which to do that. The decision as to how much fuel to run with in qualifying will be very important, both as far as deciding the grid positions and also in terms of strategy for Sunday's race."

Rubens Barrichello:

"We did not exploit all of the car's available potential, but a place in the top five today puts me in a good position to fight for a front row place on the grid tomorrow. In qualifying, the balance of the car was very different to the way it was in free practice this morning. In the end, my quick lap wasn't too bad, although I had a lot of oversteer. We still need to work on the car set-up. The track was very dirty, especially on the new part of the circuit."

Michael Schumacher:

"At the start, when it was my turn to do my run, the track was very dirty, partly because of the cars which ran on track in between free practice and qualifying. All in all, the result is not too bad, especially in terms of the battle for the title. In fact, my main rivals are pretty close to me. Therefore ninth spot can still be good for tomorrow. I am confident for the rest of the weekend and I think that overall, the situation is better than the one we experienced in Hockenheim."

Ross Brawn:

"We had the usual difficulties, especially with Michael, that go with being first out on a track like the Hungaroring, which is always dirty. Neither driver was completely satisfied with the balance of the car, which was different to the morning free practice. It is therefore difficult to get a clear picture of the true situation from this afternoon's performance, given the track conditions. We will work on the set-up and will wait for track surface conditions to evolve before making a tyre choice for qualifying and for the race."

Rubens Barrichello: 5th
1.22.892 3 laps
chassis 232

Michael Schumacher: 9th
1.23.430 3 laps
chassis 231

-ferrari-