22/08/2003

Hungarian Grand Prix - First Qualifying Report

The Panasonic Toyota Racing team had an encouraging opening day of action for the Hungarian Grand Prix round 13 of this season's Formula 1 World Championship in Budapest today. Olivier Panis was in the top ten again setting the seventh fastest time in first qualifying with a lap in 1m22.982s although team-mate Cristiano da Matta was also looking good for a top 10 position until a spin on the exit of the tight Turn 13 ultimately left him at the foot of the time sheet.

For the fourth time this season the team actually topped a free practice session when Panis was almost 0.7s quicker than any of his opposition on Friday morning.

"It's a bit of a puzzle why we lost so much time between practice and qualifying Panis admitted, but it was the same for everyone. I am sure that the track temperature and conditions had a significant effect on the car's performance because I must say that I didn't make a mistake and the time difference was consistent in all three sectors of the lap. The balance felt good and so we are going to have to have a careful look at the data. The positive thing is that we have again demonstrated the potential of the car today and the team has done yet another fabulous job."

Da Matta meanwhile now faces running first in Saturday's final qualifying session.

"That's a shame he conceded, because Hungaroring is quite a dusty circuit and it could be a significant penalty to be first out tomorrow afternoon. I was very surprised when I lost the rear end of the car because I had done the difficult part of the corner and normally you would expect the traction control to be effective there. Nevertheless we completed a productive practice session this morning so I am sure we can make up for it tomorrow when it counts."

Mild Seven Renault F1 Team driver Jarno Trulli topped the session with a lap in 1m22.358s ahead of Ralf Schumacher's BMW Williams (1m22.431s). Third fastest was Mark Webber's Jaguar (1m22.625s) ahead of David Coulthard (1m22.786s) who has been confirmed today as a McLaren driver for the ninth consecutive season in 2004. Rubens Barrichello (1m22.892s) was the quicker of the two Ferrari drivers ahead of Fernando Alonso's Renault (1m22.953s).

Team manager Ange Pasquali said: "It was an encouraging start by Olivier but you can never read too much into the opening day at Hungaroring. The track tends to pick up a lot of time between Friday and Saturday and the important thing will be working on the car tomorrow morning to establish a set-up that is going to work in a race that is always demanding. The temperatures here are very high and the set-up is crucial in terms of looking after your tyres in the race."