“It’s unfortunate for Nelson that he missed Q3 by a reasonably small margin, most of which can be accounted for by a couple of errors in turns two and four. He has had an excellent weekend and been constantly competitive. I’m sure he is due a strong race here tomorrow.”
Denis Chevrier [Renault – head of engine track operations]:
“This year it is very competitive to reach Q3, and we were part of the big fight during Q2 this afternoon. We are happy to see Nelson make progress since his first grand prix in Melbourne. He has had a more structured weekend, which has allowed him to feel comfortable in the car and on the circuit. He had a good qualifying session and the gap to Fernando is less significant than in Melbourne, so it is a better result for the team.
“With Fernando we reached Q3, which was our objective. The gaps between the first ten cars are quite significant, and we believe that the strategies of the others will be different to Fernando.”
Ron Dennis [McLaren-Mercedes – team boss]:
“A good job by both drivers, with two solid grid positions for tomorrow’s race. Obviously it would be preferable to be starting from the first rather than second row, but we fully expected to face stronger competition here this weekend and we are comfortable with our race strategy.”
Norbert Haug [Mercedes-Benz Motorsport – vice-president]:
“Both McLaren-Mercedes’ on the second row is a good basis for tomorrow’s grand prix. Congratulations to
Ferrari on their front row qualifying, but with the predicted rainfall everything will be possible in tomorrow’s race.”
Steve Clark [Honda – head of race and test engineering]:
“Rubens had a damaged sixth gear at the start of free practice, which we were able to repair under
FIA regulations without penalty. We stopped running to avoid further damage, which might have resulted in a gearbox change and resulting five-place penalty. Rubens was forced to rely on Jenson’s running and set-up changes, which obviously made qualifying difficult for him. Under the circumstances Rubens did a very good job even getting to Q2, given that the midfield was so close.
