Europe Saturday quotes: McLaren

Heikki Kovalainen - 5th: "The balance of my car was good and we improved continuously throughout the sessions. However I'm a little disappointed with my fifth place on the grid as I didn't make any mistakes and performed to the maximum. It's now up to us to score as many points as possible and make a good start from the cleaner side of the grid. Our strategy should help us to gain positions during the race."

Ron Dennis: "Today we saw another very good afternoon's work from both Lewis and Heikki, characterised by strong lap times that reflect their respective race strategies. All in all, therefore, we're well prepared for the first Grand Prix to be held on this exciting new racetrack. All the drivers did an exemplary job today, in fact, avoiding the walls in the tricky conditions.

"We hope that tomorrow's race will be equally incident-free, and that in time the Valencia event will become a regular, integral and much-admired element of the Formula One calendar.

"I would like to offer our congratulations to all concerned, and to the Valencia authorities in particular; with appropriate promotion, this Grand Prix promises to become a fabulous adjunct to our sport's existing harbourside spectacular, namely Monaco."

Norbert Haug: "A very exciting qualifying session here on this completely new and impressive circuit. Thanks to everybody involved for doing such a superb job in such a short period of time. I think we are well prepared for the race, and it will be interesting to see which of the frontrunners will drive the longest first stint tomorrow.

"Both Lewis and Heikki did a good job, even if Lewis unfortunately lost more time in the first sector than he is now behind the pole time. Our German friend Sebastian Vettel and his Toro Rosso team showed a great performance today - really well done."