27/07/2002

German Grand Prix - Qualifying Round-Up

After a promising session of free practice for the German Grand Prix on Saturday morning the qualifying hour brought frustration for Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Allan McNish and Mika Salo. The Scot and the Finn will start the 12th round of the F1 World Championship from 17th and 19th positions respectively.

Salo was eighth fastest in free practice with McNish 10th but changing circuit conditions caught the team out when it mattered.

"Basically we lost a bit of consistency in the car between morning and afternoon " McNish explained. "The circuit changed and that had a negative effect and we didn't manage to dial out all of the understeer that I experienced this morning. We seemed to gain front grip in the first half of the circuit but lost it in the second half. We almost got it right but not quite. The thing I'm most disappointed about is that the times are so close and we are behind. That's what's frustrating."

Proving McNish's point there was just one second separating his Toyota TF102 from fifth place on the grid!

Salo's comments mirrored the frustration. "This morning the car felt good I was eighth and I went into qualifying with confidence. Unfortunately the car just was not balanced and we were faced with trying to correct it during the session which is never ideal. We simply didn't make enough progress 19th is the result and you can't hold out too much hope from there."

Technical Co-Ordinator Keizo Takahashi was equally disappointed: "There was a complete change in the track conditions this afternoon and we could not get a good balance for these conditions. We tried some more set-up work during the qualifying session but we could not find a good set-up. It is not a good situation and for tomorrow we will check all data and aim to finish the race."

World Champion Michael Schumacher celebrated his fifth world championship title by taking pole position for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro in front of his adoring home fans. It was a close battle with brother Ralf however with an all-Schumacher front row delighting the German spectators.

Rubens Barrichello will line up third in the second Ferrari F2002 ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya in the second BMW Williams F1 Team entry while Kimi Raikkonen is fifth with the quicker of the West McLaren Mercedes cars. Giancarlo Fisichella completed the top six for DHL Jordan Honda equalling his best qualifying performance of the season.