"On the option tyre, my car was really tough to drive. I just generally lacked grip on the rear. This was possibly because I couldn't warm the tyres up properly due to traffic on my out lap. It could also have been caused by a compromise we made to the set-up before the session in order to help with our race performance."


Giancarlo Fisichella:

"The balance felt pretty similar to this morning, but I had front locking and some oversteer through the second sector, which affected the lap time. My second run was a little better, but we struggled in particular through turns eight and ten. Perhaps I could have improved by a couple of tenths, but it would not have made a great difference, maybe one position. We'll look to the strategy to improve tomorrow and try to be flexible to be ready for whatever comes."


Adrian Sutil:

"I did three runs and even though each lap was quicker, I'm a little disappointed as my sector times were quite good and I thought we could have done a 13.2 lap time, a couple of tenths quicker. It would not have made a difference to our position, but at least we could have been closer to the other cars in time. It's not been the best qualifying for us."


Stefano Domenicali (Ferrari - team boss):

"This is definitely a great result, which puts us in a good position for tomorrow's race. However, we are well aware it's the race that counts and so there is still a long way to go. I am very happy for Felipe, who put in very strong qualifying performance. This result, along with the incredible enthusiasm of the Brazilian crowd, will give him even more motivation for tomorrow, if indeed any more is needed. It will be a tough race with a further unknown hanging on the weather. Our aim is very simple: get both our cars ahead of the rest and then do the maths in both championships. It will be very tough, but we will give it our best shot."


Luca Baldisserri (Ferrari – technical director):

"A great qualifying with a fantastic performance from Felipe. We have taken a step in the right direction but the most important part of the job comes tomorrow and we know how this track can produce a difficult and incident-packed race. On top of that, there's the threat of a sudden worsening of the weather, which would introduce another variable in terms of managing such a crucial race. Today, the F2008 showed itself to be very competitive, even in decidedly higher temperatures compared to yesterday's free practice."


Pascal Vasselon (Toyota - senior general manager chassis):

"Clearly, we are delighted by the outcome of qualifying. For Jarno things went exactly as expected. We had several indications throughout the weekend that he was very comfortable and quick here. Then he did a very strong performance so congratulations to him. He was caught out by a gust of wind in the second outing in Q2 but the first outing was good enough. For Timo things went even better than expected. He was struggling more with the balance of the car yesterday but today he was able to put everything together when it mattered. The two cars are obviously on different strategies, which considering the unstable weather predicted for tomorrow should put the team in a strong position. The tyre situation is challenging as this circuit is severe for tyres but we feel that we will be able to handle both compounds well. So now we are looking forward very much to an exciting race to finish the season."


Ron Dennis (McLaren-Mercedes - team boss):

"We're comfortable with the outcome of today's qualifying session. There may be rain tomorrow - and, if there is, we may well see the deployment of the Safety Car. That being the case, it's possible that aggressive race strategies may be affected by those unpredictable variables. We've therefore opted for a race strategy that ought to allow us to protect against such interventions. Now, our focus is to avoid any trouble at the start, after which both our drivers should be in a position to put in strong, competitive performances."


Norbert Haug (Mercedes - motorsport director):

"With Lewis on the second row and Heikki on the third, we have a good basis for tomorrow's race. We will probably see different strategies once the race unfolds and I am confident about ours. Our speed is good as we showed in Q1 and Q2 when Heikki was fastest of the day and, if our reliability and performance is there, we will get the job done."


Pat Symonds (Renault - executive director of engineering):

"As usual, the very short lap time here produced a close grid. Nelson was very unlucky not to make Q3 as he was just a fraction slower than Fernando in Q2. But Fernando did a magnificent job as always and secured a good grid position with a sensible fuel load. We are now looking forward to the race tomorrow."


Denis Chevrier (Renault - head of engine track operations):

"After free practice this morning, we had realistic hopes of reaching Q3 with both cars. Nelson just missed out on a place by a few hundredths, which is frustrating for his home grand prix, but he will have the freedom to adapt to the conditions we get tomorrow. As this will be a 71-lap race, the strategy and starting fuel loads meant that the gaps in Q3 were especially close today. Now we have to wait for tomorrow, but we are hopeful of a positive race."


Christian Horner (Red Bull Racing - team boss):