14/08/2004

Grand Prix of Hungary - Qualifying Round-Up

Olivier Panis (Car 17 Chassis TF104/09B)
Pre-Qualifying: 14th
Lap Time: 1m20.491s (+2.055s)
Qualifying: 13th
Lap Time: 1m21.068s (+1.922s)
Grid Position: 13th
"For some reason the performance of the car in qualifying was much worse than we have shown this weekend. The only thing I can think of is that the wind must have affected us more than everyone else. The whole race team has worked well but now we need to be fully focused on the race and keep pushing. In the last six races of this season we need to pick up the maximum number of points we can."

Ricardo Zonta (Car 16 Chassis TF104/10B)
Pre-Qualifying: 12th
Lap Time: 1m20.199s (+1.763s)
Qualifying: 15th
Lap Time: 1m21.135s (+1.989s)
Grid Position: 15th
"The weather changed a bit between practice and qualifying and that made the car slide around more. Also it was my first experience with one-lap qualifying so it was quite difficult to put everything together. In spite of the final result I am very motivated. I think we have a good car and I am ready to fight for points in the race tomorrow. I have had fantastic support from the team which has made the transition from third driver to race driver much easier this weekend."

Mike Gascoyne - Technical Director Chassis
"We are all disappointed with the outcome of today's qualifying session and I do not think our grid positions reflect our true performance level. This morning the balance on the car was pretty good but in qualifying the cars just seem to lack grip and we couldn't get near to the times that we achieved in practice. However we now have to get on with the job in hand and make sure we get both cars to the finish of the race. The car has been consistent over long runs so we have to see if we can get both cars into the points."