Hungarian GP Saturday McLaren notes

HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX 1998 - QUALIFYING

Chassis Numbers: Mika Hakkinen: MP4-13 / 05 David Coulthard: MP4-13 / 07 T. Car: MP4-13 / 04

Today's result is the eighth all West McLaren Mercedes front row of the season. It is also Mika Hakkinen's eighth pole position and the team's eleventh from twelve races this year. David will start alongside his team mate on a fastest lap of 1:17.131, just over one tenth behind Mika's pole time of 1:16.973.

MIKA HAKKINEN 'Of course I am pleased to be starting the race from pole position, which is particularly important at this track. It can be a difficult circuit as the inside and outside of the track gets very dusty and if you go off the line, which is often the case when overtaking, you lack grip and this means you loose a lot of time which can only be regained after a number of corners. So starting from the front will help that situation. The whole qualifying session was interesting as we continued to work on the set up of the car but in the last ten minutes the strong winds meant that we were not able to go any further. That said I think we have a good package for the race tomorrow.'

DAVID COULTHARD 'Hungary is a great track to qualify on if you get a clear lap, so I was disappointed to be held up on my last run. I was a couple of tenths up on Mika at one stage but I didn't manage to complete the lap and that is what matters. However, the final result represents such a small gap and we will be working towards a good race finish.'

RON DENNIS 'Hungary may lack the trappings of Monte Carlo but a front grow grid positions in both venues are critical in determining the outcome of the race. Having achieved our first objective of the weekend we are now focusing on tomorrow.'

NORBERT HAUG 'A very good performance of the whole team led by Mika and David. Having both cars on the front row is always very important and a good basis for a race win. It is especially vital on this track where overtaking was almost impossible in the past.'