12/06/2004

Grand Prix of Canada - Qualifying Round-Up

Cristiano da Matta (Car 16 Chassis TF104/04)
Pre-Qualifying: 12th
Lap Time: 1m13.807s (+1.366s)
Qualifying: 12th
Lap Time: 1m14.851s (+2.576s)
Grid Position: 12th
"My lap was not great and I feel that I could have extracted another two or three tenths from the car. Having said that we have been more concentrated on our race pace this weekend so we did not expect to be so hot today. We maybe had a bit too much understeer in the qualifying session but that will help conserve our rear tyres in the race which could give us a competitive edge. The overall results reflect where we thought we would be with our strategy. We believe that the direction we have opted for is the right one and we have put our money on it paying off tomorrow."

Olivier Panis (Car 17 Chassis TF104/03 T-car TF104/07)
Pre-Qualifying: 13th
Lap Time: 1m14.166s (+1.725s)
Qualifying: 13th
Lap Time: 1m14.891s (+2.616s)
Grid Position: 13th
"I think I did a good lap considering the strategy that we are using for tomorrow's race. It is always possible to improve by some tenths-of-a-second but likewise it is also easy to lose five. I actually feel really positive for the race because the tyres and the car appeared quite consistent during the long runs we completed in the practice sessions this morning. Now we simply need to wait and see where we are tomorrow in comparison with everybody else's strategy."

Mike Gascoyne - Technical Director Chassis
"We have worked on optimising the car for its race performance tomorrow in terms of both our tyre choice and strategy. Consequently I think we can be reasonably pleased with our qualifying positions. The car has been a little bit more difficult to drive today but overall I think we have taken the right approach. The Michelin tyres we have selected are very consistent so I believe we should expect to have a more consistent race pace than we have had in previous grands prix. The rate of attrition in Canada is traditionally quite high with particular stresses on the brakes and engine so it will be a difficult race to finish. We have to look at getting both cars to the chequered flag and see if can pick up some points."