08/06/2002

Canadian Grand Prix - Qualifying Round-Up

Panasonic Toyota Racing faces an uphill task in the Canadian Grand Prix round 8 of the F1 World Championship after Mika Salo and Allan McNish qualified 18th and 20th respectively for the race.

Optimism had been relatively high after the opening day of free practice on Friday at a circuit that on paper is well suited to the characteristics of the TF102 chassis.

With almost 55% of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve lap run at full throttle engine power is at a premium and that has been a strong point of the Toyota package all year. The other critical factor is brakes which the drivers have also felt confident in since the start of the season.

"Unfortunately though we just cannot make the car handle well over the kerbs " Salo explained. "It's pretty much the same problem we had at Imola for the first European race of the year. The car is okay on the kerbs with a full fuel load but it jumps around too much when we are in qualifying trim. It hits the kerb so hard it jumps very high and then doesn't land so that you can get the power on early enough."

Salo confirmed that he expects the Toyotas to perform better in the race and that at least overtaking is not as difficult in Montreal as at some other circuits: "Although the Hairpin has been changed you can still pass there and so we should be able to make some progress although we are a long way back."

Salo lapped in 1m15.111s. McNish was 0.21s slower than his Finnish team mate on his first experience of the Ile Notre-Dame track.

"It was a difficult session especially with the rain at the end " the Scot explained. "The circuit has not had much grip all day and neither myself nor Mika could find a good balance for the car. Generally we have not been very quick but we will push for the race and I am sure race set-up will be better compared to today."

Panasonic Toyota Racing president Ove Andersson said: "It is a similar situation to the one we faced at Imola and although we have some modifications coming they are not ready yet. But we are learning and that's what I keep saying."

Montoya claimed his third pole position of the season ahead of world champion Michael Schumacher's Ferrari and Rubens Barrichello in the second Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro car. Ralf Schumacher who beat his brother to win in Montreal last year was fourth in the second Williams-BMW while Kimi Raikkonen claimed fifth place on the grid for West McLaren Mercedes. Giancarlo Fisichella qualified sixth with the first DHL Jordan Honda entry.