Italian GP Williams Saturday notes

Juan Pablo Montoya has claimed his third pole for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team, while his team-mate, Ralf Schumacher, will start from fourth on the grid for the Italian Grand Prix.

Juan Pablo Montoya
"The car was really good. We worked a lot this morning trying to make it better and better. We knew in the morning we were not going to be that good if it was cold, but the temperature came up and we became stronger and stronger. I think there is a bit more time there so I am very pleased with that. I believe tomorrow is going to be hard as the Ferraris have been consistently quick all the weekend, so it should be interesting. I shall try to have a clean start and go from there."

Ralf Schumacher
"Unfortunately for me qualifying was less successful than expected, as we just didn't find the right set-up. My car alternated between oversteer and understeer. It also did not really help that on one of my runs I had to slow down because of yellow flags. Now the Schumacher family starts from the second row, and this will be exciting for sure."

Patrick Head, Technical Director
"A strong performance from the team, and particularly from Juan Pablo with his second-consecutive pole position. The slightly warmer temperatures in the afternoon also helped the Michelin tyres give an even better performance - they look good, strong and stable. It is obvious the circuit with its long straights suits the power of the BMW engine quite well. We now need to get a good result out of these grid positions."

Dr. Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director
"The fight with the two Ferraris was really exciting today. At the end it was Juan who had his nose in front. Being here on pole gives us a lot of satisfaction because engine power plays such an important role here. We had no problems with either engine, and they were as strong as they should have been."

Chassis
Montoya: FW23-08
Schumacher: FW23-07
Spare (Montoya): FW23-02