Spanish GP McLaren Saturday notes

West McLaren Mercedes drivers Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard will start Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix from second and third on the grid respectively after today's qualifying session at the Catalunya circuit. Mika set a time of 1:18.286 -- only 85 hundredths of a second from pole position. David did a time of 1:18.635

Mika Hakkinen:
'To be honest I'm disappointed not to get pole position. On my last and fastest run, I was three tenths of a second ahead until turn five when I lost the back end a bit. Before then all my runs had been affected by traffic so it was only towards the end that I was able to maximise the car. We have found the performance, we wanted and I'm confident for the race tomorrow.'

David Coulthard:
'I'm confident that I could have been on the front row. I set my fastest time on my first run which was pretty basic and tidy - you always make a safe lap at the beginning of qualifying -- just in case. The remainder of my flying laps just didn't work out -- I was either caught in traffic or made mistakes and as a result I was unable to get the best out of the car. Qualifying third means I will be starting from the clean side of the track which might be an advantage tomorrow.'

Ron Dennis:
'A trouble free day from a mechanical point of view but the traffic was comparable to downtown Barcelona. I'm never quite sure why we fit mirrors to the cars when it's apparent how little they are used. Therefore in the circumstances the outcome for both drivers was quite good. Of course both Mika and David used varying amounts of the new electronic control systems and surprisingly a little is sometimes better than a lot.'

Norbert Haug:
'A super job from Mika being less than one tenths from pole after his last run. Unfortunately David was held up on his final attempt. The competition is incredibly close but our prospects for the race should be good.'