26/09/2003

United States Grand Prix - First Qualifying Report

Changeable weather conditions dictated the outcome of the first qualifying session for the season's penultimate Grand Prix at Indianapolis USA today. As an indicator of the weekend's events therefore times were relatively meaningless with Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Cristiano da Matta (1m11.949s) and Olivier Panis (1m17.666s) ending up 11th and 14th respectively.

Reigning CART champion Da Matta is enjoying the experience of driving in America once again although many mistakenly believe that he has run at Indy before. In fact the 500 has played host to the Indy Racing League in recent seasons rather than CART so the Speedway is a brand new experience for Cristiano.

"The place definitely has something about it he said, but the frustrating thing today has been the conditions. I couldn't learn the track properly due to the wet-dry-wet conditions in the morning and we have to hope that tomorrow will be dry. Then in qualifying it started to rain before I went out and I didn't get a completely dry track like the first half of the drivers. But the car was handling pretty well and I can't be too concerned with the outcome."

Panis meanwhile was an impressive third fastest in morning practice just 0.23s behind the session best time but rain towards the end of the period washed the track clean and meant that those first out in qualifying (which is run on Friday in reverse championship order) were at a disadvantage as the track 'rubbered in.' Put simply as each car runs it leaves tyre rubber on the racing line which increased the grip level for the following car.

That should have worked in the Frenchman's favour but as with his team mate rain spoiled his run.

"When it started to rain we just had time to put intermediate tyres on Panis explained. That helped a little but the track was really wet by then. I'm a little bit disappointed because I was really pleased to be third quickest in morning practice considering the amount of fuel I had on board. Tomorrow will be the important day. I think we will be in good shape if I get a little bit more luck!"

Setting the pace was Jarno Trulli's Mild Seven Renault (1m09.556s) with Rubens Barrichello second fastest for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (1m09.835s). Mark Webber's Jaguar was third (1m10.081s) with Ralf Schumacher (1m10.222s) fourth for the BMW Williams F1 Team one slot ahead of championship contending team mate Juan Pablo Montoya (1m10.372s). David Coulthard's West McLaren Mercedes completed the top six (1m10.450) while Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen had to be content with eight and ninth places respectively.

Panasonic Toyota Racing team manager Ange Pasquali said: "You can never account for the weather! It is pretty disruptive at Indy though because the track involves a compromise set-up because of the high-speed final turn and front straight combined with the tight infield. It would have been nice to continue the programme uninterrupted but it was the same for everyone so tomorrow will give a clearer indication as long as the rain stays away."

Despite being held across the Atlantic Ocean from the team's headquarters one could claim that the US Grand Prix is a sort of home race for Panasonic Toyota Racing. The city of Indianapolis is actually twinned with Cologne where Toyota Motorsport's factory is located so the team is hoping to score a points finish at this weekend's US Grand Prix so that Indianapolis and Cologne can both celebrate together in style.