Monaco GP McLaren qualifying notes

West McLaren Mercedes driver David Coulthard claimed his 12th pole position when he set a fastest lap of 1:17.430 in today's qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix in the closing stages of the one-hour session. Team mate Mika Hakkinen's time of 1:17.749 puts him third.

DAVID COULTHARD
"I'm delighted and satisfied with our performance today and despite all pole positions being important, at Monaco its essential because its so difficult to overtake. I was able to avoid traffic and the front end was working well which allowed me to really hit the apex of the corners. At the end, I had to wait to hear whether Mika or Michael Schumacher was going quicker and when I heard on the radio that I had pole it was great. However now we need to focus on the race because that is where the points can be won."

MIKA HAKKINEN
"I'm a bit disappointed because I didn't get pole position and I think we could have had an all West McLaren Mercedes front row today. We made a few changes to the car for my last run, which obviously didn't achieve what we wanted and I had a lot of understeer at the Rascasse and was unable to improve my time."

RON DENNIS
"As always at Monaco achieving good grid positions was utmost in our minds and therefore the outcome of practice is almost perfect. A good fight for pole which I hope the spectators and television viewers enjoyed."

NORBERT HAUG
"A great performance by David. Mika, Michael Schumacher and David had a close fight for pole position towards the end. David's last run under extreme pressure was superb. We have worked on the driveability of the engine, which is especially important here in Monaco."

-NcLaren