Monaco GP: Williams Saturday qualifying notes

Nowhere is the grid position of higher value than on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo and the BMW WilliamsF1 Team is perfectly set as Ralf Schumacher took pole position on the challenging Monaco circuit whilst Juan Pablo Montoya starts third. For Ralf it is the second pole position of his Formula One career after the 2001 French Grand Prix. For the BMW WiliamsF1 Team it is the 12th pole since the British-German partnership started in the 2000 season, the last being at Monza in 2002.

Ralf Schumacher:

"Looking at this morning's times I really did not expect to be on pole today and obviously I am very pleased about my second pole. Driving in Monaco is a great challenge and if your car has the right balance then it is a true pleasure. I must say thanks to the whole team for the great job they have done and also to Michelin for their tyres which seem to be very consistent here."

"We have all had a couple of hard weeks and achieving this success feels very good now. However, tomorrow is the day that really counts. We are going to have an exciting start and race tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it."

Juan Pablo Montoya:

"The car had a good balance even if on my qualifying lap my car was bottoming and I lost some time because of it. We have a good and consistent car for the race and both Ralf and myself are starting from good positions. It is important for the team what we have achieved today. It is clear that the team now understands the car more and can better exploit the potential of the FW25."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"An excellent qualifying for the team. All the engineers and drivers put a lot of effort into improving the car since Thursday's practice. The changes that we made to the set-up on both cars were clearly significant. It is good to see our cars at the front on a circuit that is all about downforce and chassis performance."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director):

"You need to get a very good lap in order to be on the front row in Monte Carlo. Ralf has produced a fantastic performance, today. All the team has done a stunning job, congratulations to all. Since Thursday we have turned the situation to our favour and also the tyres worked very well here today. I only hope we will have a better start than last year and that there will be an FW25 leading out of the first corner. Should this happen, we can even begin to think about winning the race. I believe we look good in terms of strategy."

Ralf Schumacher: 1st
Chassis: FW25 05
(Spare car: FW25 04)
Best time: 1.15,259 min

Juan Pablo Montoya: 3rd
Chassis: FW25 06
(Spare car: FW25 02)
Best time: 1.15.415 min

-williams-