24/07/2004

Grand Prix of Germany - Qualifying Report

Olivier Panis will give the updated Toyota TF104B chassis its race debut from ninth place on the grid in tomorrow's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

The Frenchman lapped in 1m14.36s a second slower than Michael Schumacher who claimed his sixth pole position of the year for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro but his first since the European Grand Prix in May.

After an opening day that the Panasonic Toyota Racing team effectively treated as a test session due to its lack of experience with the new aerodynamic parts on the TF104B Panis's qualifying result was highly positive while team mate Cristiano da Matta who starts the race 15th with a lap in 1m15.454s felt that he did not get the best out of his car.

In Saturday morning's first free practice session often a better barometer of race performance rather than qualifying pace Panis looked even stronger setting the sixth quickest time.

"We worked hard yesterday on the balance the Frenchman explained, and it looks like we have done a good job with the data overnight. Qualifying went well and the car felt very consistent in the longer runs that we did this morning. That is the secret of strong race pace and I am really looking forward to tomorrow."

Da Matta admitted: "I'm not happy with either of my laps today from either pre-qualifying or the grid session proper. "I'd done a 1m14.7s lap in the morning and I was expecting a similar sort of time. But on both of my runs I had difficulty entering Turn 2 as well as some problems braking into Turn 6. There had been no hint of it at earlier and we'll have to have a close look at the reasons. It's frustrating because the TF104B has shown that it is better with improvements on the aerodynamic side."

Behind Michael Schumacher Juan Pablo Montoya (1m13.668s) put his BMW Williams on the front row for the second time this season while Briton Jenson Button was third quickest overall but is demoted 10 places on the grid after an engine change yesterday. The West McLaren Mercedes cars of Kimi Raikkonen (1m13.690s) and David Coulthard (1m13.821s) were next fastest followed by the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team cars of Fernando Alonso (1m13.874s) and Jarno Trulli (1m14.134s).

Technical Director Chassis Mike Gascoyne said: "It is a positive start for the updated car. Cristiano despite being on a similar fuel load could not get the same from the car as he managed in the morning which was a shame because both cars were capable of qualifying in the top 10. There is no doubt that we have made a decent step forward and another encouraging element was the competitiveness that the cars demonstrated on longer runs. I think we can look ahead with relative confidence."