Sat team by team: Part 2

With track temperatures rising throughout qualifying, Sauber appears to have been one of main teams to benefit from choosing a hard compound tyre. Felipe Massa equalled his career best qualifying performance with fourth, and could have gone even better if he had not had a moment at Turn 11, while Giancarlo Fisichella will start 10th after suffering understeer.

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA: "It was not too bad for me, to qualify just outside the top 10. Yesterday the car was quick in race trim, and though today it was a little strange in places with some understeer, I am confident that I have the right strategy and can achieve a good result in my last race for a great team."

FELIPE MASSA: "I think that was a pretty good lap! But you know, all day I had the confidence to be flat in Turn 11, and then in qualifying the car had a big snap oversteer there and I lost a tenth of a second or so and maybe even a front row position. But so soon after China it is great to repeat that grid result and I am sure I can do a very good job in the race tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it."




Jaguar's final race in Formula 1 did not deliver a repeat of Mark Webber's ultra-strong third place grid slot from last year, but the Australian was not too unhappy to qualify 11th. Christian Klien, who came close to hitting a slowing Timo Glock in the pit lane entry on his qualifying lap, ended up 15th.

MARK WEBBER: "This morning's practice was slightly shorter than we would have liked but stray dogs on the track is out of our control and everyone was affected. We made the most of the second session and I was relatively comfortable with the car's set-up going into qualifying. My first qualifying was not ideal as I felt that there was more to be extracted from the car and it needed a bit of fine-tuning. My second session was better and I was pleased with the balance and pace of the car during the lap. I would perhaps have liked to have extracted a bit more from the last corner but it is easy to make a mistake there and lose much time so I did what I could and am overall pleased with my final positioning for tomorrow. I am looking forward to the race tomorrow here at Sao Paolo as it is usually a race packed with action and given that it is the last race of the season it is guaranteed to throw some surprises. Lets see what we can do to finish in the points and reward everyone involved with Jaguar Racing for all their hard work this year".

CHRISTIAN KLIEN: "This is not an easy circuit to master and one that punishes you for the slightest error. I have been working hard with my engineers to find a good balance for the car and I managed this ahead of qualifying and was looking forward to this afternoon. My first session was ok but I needed to extract more from the car but the grip was quite low in the afternoon and this was affecting me. I did what I could to secure a good position on the grid and given our strategy going into tomorrow I am pleased with my final position of fifteenth. I have had a fantastic year with the team and I will be doing what I can tomorrow to enjoy the race and give both the fans and the team something to cheer about."




Jarno Trulli proved that Toyota's TF104B is not too lacking in its pace over a single lap as he qualified a strong ninth - although he remains cautious about the pace of the car over long race runs. Ricardo Zonta starts 14th after suffering understeer throughout qualifying.

JARNO TRULLI: "I am extremely happy with our performance in qualifying. It was a very good lap and the car was well balanced. I believe that I pushed the car to the absolute limit, which makes me particularly satisfied. I am also quite confident for the race because we have been consistent over the long runs in the practice sessions. We have to wait and see what weather conditions we will have in tomorrow's race because slightly hotter temperatures could affect us. That aside, we should be encouraged by this result, especially considering the greatly reduced gap we have to the front running teams."

RICARDO ZONTA: "I was happy with the balance of the car in the morning practice, but we had to make some changes to the car to avoid wearing the floor too much. Unfortunately, the car became very understeery and although we tried to solve the problem, it was too late for the second qualifying session. On my lap, I had a lot of understeer, particularly in the slower corners, where I couldn't improve my lap time. I am disappointed because I had hoped to do a good job in front of all the Brazilian people, but the weekend is far from over. We have to remain positive for the race and try to score points."




A year on from Giancarlo Fisichella's sensational victory in Brazil and Jordan is again looking to the skies for some assistance. Nick Heidfeld and Timo Glock both opted for set-ups that should give them an advantage if, as expected, it rains for Sunday's race. Heidfeld will start 16th and Glock 17th.

NICK HEIDFELD: "I'm quite satisfied with my lap and it is good fun to drive here at Interlagos again. I lost some grip on the tyres towards the end of the lap but that's normal, it can happen. The new tarmac here has some good grip, which is positive, but it's still too bumpy really. Hopefully we will be lucky and have a good race."

TIMO GLOCK: "It has been a bit better than yesterday. We found more from the car in time for pre-qualifying, although I made a mistake in last sector. In qualifying I had a good lap without mistakes. I'm on a slightly different strategy to Nick and I think the distance between our times represents that. We had problems yesterday but we've found a better way for the set-up now. I'm looking forward to the race and hope it's wet because that's would be the best position for us in terms of chances for points."




Zsolt Baumgartner gave evidence of the amazing amount of progress made in Formula 1 when his 19th fastest qualifying time would have been good enough for pole position last year. Gianmaria Bruni failed to set a time after a rear suspension problem developed in pre-qualifying.

ZSOLT BAUMGARTNER: "Generally, it has been a good day. I was quite competitive compared with my team mate all morning and I was very happy in qualifying that I could be that close to the Jordan with just half-a-tenth of a second between us. I really like the track, which may be why I have performed well here all weekend, and now I hope to have a good race here tomorrow to finish the weekend. I particularly want to thank the team for all their effort. We tried a lot of things on the car and they worked really hard to make all the changes. They pushed really hard, so I did as well, and now I will try to reward them with a good race tomorrow."

GIANMARIA BRUNI: "I had a good run in the pre-qualifying session and set the fastest-ever lap for a Minardi around Interlagos. On the 'in' lap, however, I experienced a problem with the car and, as a result, decided not to take part in the qualifying session. Even so, I'm sure tomorrow is going to be a good race and I will try to get the best result I can in the final event of the year."