Italian GP: Williams Saturday qualifying notes

Juan Pablo Montoya will start Sunday's Italian Grand Prix from second position on the grid while Marc Gené claimed the fifth grid position for tomorrow's race. The Spaniard, Marc Gené, stood in for Ralf Schumacher who is still suffering the consequences of the crash he sustained last week when testing on the Monza circuit. After running yesterday in Free Practice and First Qualifying, this morning Ralf decided together with the Team and the FIA's Medical Delegate, that he would withdraw from the GP weekend.

Juan Pablo Montoya:

"I had a pretty good lap and saw the first two sector times on the dash that confirmed I was quickest. But then I had quite a lot of understeer, and I made a small mistake at Ascari when I went too wide, but I could not afford to be conservative. I believe we have a very good car and strong tyres for the race tomorrow even if I am starting from the dirty side of the track. Marc did an amazing job especially as he started first, and the track improved a lot during the session. I am looking forward to the race."

Marc Gené:

"I thought I was still dreaming this morning when I was woken by a surprising call telling me that I was standing in for Ralf. I was fortunate to test on this track last week. It is also beneficial that besides my job of test driver, I have been busy racing in other series and I therefore have plenty of race practice. I hope I can support the team here in their battle for the Championship and I am sure that Ralf will be okay for the next race. However, my qualifying lap wasn't the best ever as I made a couple of mistakes in the first and second chicanes, but my best qualifying in F1 so far was 15th on the grid."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"It was a good qualifying session for the team. Juan produced a good lap, despite a little mistake in Ascari, which cost him pole position and he is well placed for the race tomorrow. Marc did a fantastic job today after jumping into the car at short notice."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director):

"It was the anticipated close dual between Ferrari and ourselves, and this will continue in the race. Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo are separated by just a fraction and Kimi Räikkönen is close behind ready to pounce. I am curious to know what fuel level each driver was carrying. Every test driver hopes to get the chance to compete in a race, even if on very short notice such as Marc's call-up this morning. Now is his chance to use this opportunity and he made an excellent job of it in qualifying."

Juan Pablo Montoya: 2nd
Chassis: FW25 06
Best time: 1:21.014min

Marc Gené: 5th
Chassis: FW25 07
Best time: 1:21,834 min

-williams-