San Marino GP: Williams Saturday notes

A reasonably positive qualifying for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, who were 3rd and 4th respectively for the 2002 San Marino Grand Prix, on a track which finally dried after several days of heavy rain.

Ralf Schumacher

"We can be reasonably happy as we are very close to Ferrari. I failed to improve my time in the last run due to a mistake. Last year I started third here and I had my first victory in F1, so why couldn't it be the same this year? A good strategy can take you everywhere. Lots can happen in a race but whatever happens tomorrow, we will try to get some points."

Juan Pablo Montoya

"I had a pretty good qualifying today, although I was chasing the car balance throughout the session. Considering that it was raining yesterday we managed to find a reasonably good set-up for dry conditions. Tomorrow we have good chances of achieving places on the podium."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"We are happy that the weather conditions changed to favour our team. Looking at the gap we still have to Ferrari we have quite a bit of work to do. Mainly for tomorrow but also for the upcoming races. Today both the drivers got the best out of their cars and for tomorrow it's a case of having the right strategy. Now we have to prepare ourselves for the race regardless of whether the track conditions will remain friendly to us or not."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director):

"The fact that Ralf's and Juan's times are so close indicates to me that both of our drivers got the best out of the situation. Ferrari has again demonstrated a perfect performance, but we are almost there. Our starting position for tomorrow is good and I am confident that we will be able to defend our starting positions even in the rain."

Ralf Schumacher: 3rd
Chassis: FW24 05 (T-Car FW24 02)
Best time: 1.21:473

Juan Pablo Montoya: 4th
Chassis: FW24 04
Best time: 1.21:605

-williams-