Hungarian GP: Sauber Friday qualifying notes

Nick Heidfeld and Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished 10th and 11th fastest respectively after today's first qualifying session for the Hungarian Grand Prix, and will therefore start tomorrow's qualifying session in 11th and 10th positions.

Nick Heidfeld:

"I am happy that now it has become obvious how much we have improved the C22's performance, because it was not so clear in the last two races. I have mixed feelings about today's qualifying because of my mistake in the first corner this afternoon, when I got into the dirt off line. I was able to learn quite a bit about the tyre performance from the other drivers who did their flying lap before me, and therefore chose to run a rather conservative out lap to conserve my tyres as they can start to grain quickly under these track and weather conditions. This decision turned out to be right and allowed me also to score this fast lap, but I could have been faster still."

Heinz-Harald Frentzen:

"I think Nick and I have done a really good lap! Unfortunately I lost some time in the third sector due to graining and so the tyres' performance decreased and I wasn't able to attack any more. In the morning I also suffered graining, particularly on the new sections of the track surface."

Peter Sauber (Team Principal):

"Friday qualifying is a pleasure again. The hard work of the last few weeks has reaped a dividend and I thank our development team and, of course, our drivers, for doing their jobs with such effective commitment today."

Driver (Chassis)
Heidfeld (C22-01)
1:23.482s, 10th

Frentzen (C22-03)
1:23.660s, 11th
Spare (C22-02)

-sauber-