Spanish GP: Bridgestone Saturday qualifying notes

Bridgestone dominates top 5 in final qualifying

Storming runs by Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello and Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda's Jenson Button saw Bridgestone dominate this afternoon's final qualifying prior to the 2003 Spanish Grand Prix. In similarly hot conditions to Friday's first qualifying, Schumacher and Barrichello blitzed the field with the new F2003- GA, taking their second 1-2 of the 2003 season. The pair was separated by 0.258 of a second.

B.A.R's Button, meanwhile, maintains his good form and will line up fifth on the grid in Sunday's race. The Briton's teammate Jacques Villeneuve lies six places places behind but the two are running different car set-ups. Also making it into the top ten for Bridgestone is Sauber Petronas' Heinz- Harald Frentzen.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport:

"I'm very pleased with today's result. Both the Ferraris have shown how competitive our tyres are in these hot conditions. We have three cars in the top five which is good news and I fully expect the Bridgestone runners to be up there in the race tomorrow. Jenson Button's performance was good to see today."

Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro:

"I'm pleased especially for Michael this weekend as he didn't drive the new car in the week prior to the grand prix and has struggled a little bit. We actually had a new tyre specification here this weekend but we chose not to use it preferring instead to run a tyre we have tested fully and we're confident it will be good in the race."

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