Spanish GP Stewart Saturday notes

Barcelona, Saturday 29th May, 1999

STEWART-FORD NOTES & QUOTES Spanish Grand Prix: Qualifying

Weather: Sunny, humid 25C

Rubens will start tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix from seventh position on the grid after an eventful qualifying session today. He switched from his race car to the spare car after detecting a vibration on his first qualifying run. He reverted to his race car for the remainder of the session. Johnny qualified in 14th position. He was making good progress throughout the session but had to slow for yellow caution flags on his last flying lap and was unable to improve on his earlier time.

RUBENS BARRICHELLO  Car No.16 (SF3-04)
Time:         1:22.920                Position: 7th

'There was quite a lot happening for me during the session so I'm reasonably happy with seventh position on the grid. I switched to the spare car for my second run due to a vibration but because the car is set up for Johnny, I had difficulty adjusting to the throttle pedal. I went back to my race car after one lap and just had to give it all I could to move up the time sheets. The crew did a fantastic job switching me from car to car. I'm satisfied with my tyre choice and I expect to run a strong race so another points finish is not out of the question at all.'

JOHNNY HERBERT  Car No.17 (SF3-05)
Time:         1:23.505                Position: 14th

'I felt I had made a big improvement from yesterday and felt comfortable with the car during qualifying so I was disappointed not to have finished higher up the grid. I guess it was a case of not getting my sector times quite right for the whole lap. I also caught yellow flags on my last flying lap when one of the Benettons had a problem which didn't help my chances of improving. I've made it difficult for myself in the race starting from where I am. What I have to focus on now is to run reliably and hope that my race strategy works out because the times are very close.'

PAUL STEWART, Deputy Chairman, SGP 'All things considered the whole team did a great job today. Rubens and the crew held it together amid the confusion in the garage over car choice. We were perhaps expecting a better performance in qualifying given the pace we were setting during recent tests in Barcelona. We were hoping that our testing performance would translate into quicker qualifying times today but it didn't turn out that way. The unusual track conditions yesterday hampered our efforts to be in optimum shape for qualifying. Johnny was poised for a better qualifying effort but was held up by yellow flags at the start of his last quick lap.'

MARTIN WHITAKER, Director, Ford Racing, Europe 'Both engines ran reliably throughout today although Rubens complained of a vibration after his first run. As a precaution the team elected to put him out in the T car. However, examination of the engine data did not reveal any obvious cause for a vibration and he duly returned to his race car for the remainder of the session. Rubens set his fastest time with this car and neither he, or Johnny, experienced any downturn in engine performance.'