US GP: McLaren Saturday qualifying notes

West McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen will start tomorrow's United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from seventh position after setting a fastest time of 1:11.137. Team mate David Coulthard's time of 1:12.026 puts him 12th.

Kimi Raikkonen:

"We did better than expected as the car has been quite difficult to handle so far this weekend. However we managed to find a good balance and an overall improvement in time for qualifying, which is what it's all about, so overall I'm pleased. It will be a difficult race tomorrow, but we have a strong strategy and will do our best, so hopefully we will be reliable and score some points."

David Coulthard:

"I was reasonable happy with the balance of the car in the first run. We didn't make any changes between sessions, so I was a little bit surprised when the car felt different. I got out of shape in the corners and used more traction control which just soaks up the time. It will be a tough race tomorrow, and a lot will depend on track temperature."

Ron Dennis:

"Whilst our forward progress is somewhat slow we are nevertheless moving forward. We feel that we have a good race strategy, which could give us a few more points."

Norbert Haug:

"A good lap by Kimi and a reasonable basis for the race. The gap between fifth and ninth is just over a tenth of a second, so it will be interesting to see tomorrow's strategies."

David Coulthard MP4-19 03
Kimi Raikkonen: MP4-19 01
T-car (David): MP4-19 04

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