22/05/2004

Grand Prix of Monaco Qualifying Report

Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Olivier Panis and Cristiano Da Matta will start the Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1's glamour event from 13th and 15th positions respectively on the grid.

Both drivers were pleased with their qualifying laps given that expectations were not high for this weekend. The tight and twisty nature of the Monaco streets means that cars require high levels of downforce something that the TF104 still lacks. Nevertheless the team believes it has extracted the most from the cars ahead of the gruelling 78-lap race tomorrow.

"Obviously you want to qualify as high as possible here because it is so tough to overtake Panis said. I did everything I could and the car felt better than it did in morning practice. Cristiano and I had a close battle with the Jaguars but we still basically need some more pace. Hopefully that will come with the mid-season developments that are planned but for now we will continue to push and see if we can pick anything up tomorrow."

Da Matta added: "We have struggled for grip this weekend and in the circumstances I think that we have got just about everything out of the car that was there to be had. I was actually quite pleased with my qualifying lap today."

Panasonic Toyota Racing's Technical Director Chassis Mike Gascoyne explained: "We knew that we would be lacking in grip here and that qualifying could be difficult for us so we have elected to run a more conservative race strategy. Considering the way the tyres are behaving it was the best solution for us. Monaco is often a race of attrition and our general car balance is not bad. We will be aiming at getting both cars to the finish and you never quite know what situations Monte Carlo will produce."

Jarno Trulli (1m13.985s) claimed the first pole position of his career for the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team some 0.36s clear of Ralf Schumacher's BMW Williams. The German driver will actually have to start the race 10 places further back on the grid however following an engine change on Thursday. Jenson Button (1m14.396s) will therefore line up second just a hundredth of a second quicker than Trulli's team mate Fernando Alonso (1m14.408s). Six times champion Michael Schumacher (1m14.516s) will start a race off the front row for the first time this year while Kimi Raikkonen (1m14.592s) was sixth quickest with the first of the West McLaren Mercedes cars.