Rubens Barrichello qualified sixth and Michael Schumacher tenth on the grid for tomorrow afternoon’s British Grand Prix. However, both men move up one position, as a result of Kimi Raikkonen’s bad luck. Having suffered an engine failure in his McLaren-Mercedes in Magny-Cours a week ago, the same thing happened here and so the Finn, who actually set the second fastest time, drops ten places to twelfth on the grid. That gave the home crowd what they wanted: a British driver on the front row of the British Grand Prix, courtesy of Jenson Button in the BAR-Honda. However, pole position goes yet again – for the seventth time in his career – to Fernando Alonso in the Renault. The second row features the McLaren-Mercedes of Juan Pablo Montoya and the Toyota of Jarno Trulli, while Barrichello has the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella on his outside. Row five could be called “Champions Row” as it features the only two men on the grid to have won the F1 title, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve.

While Rubens reckoned he got the most out of his F2005 and is looking forward to driving an aggressive race on Bridgestone tyres which he thinks will be more competitive than those used in France, Michael was less happy with his lap. The German reckons the lack of grip he experienced was down to the rear tyres increasing in pressure more than expected during his lap. He also ran slightly wide onto the grass at one point.

Jean Todt : “Sixth place for Rubens and tenth for Michael is how the qualifying session panned out for Ferrari. When looking at the overall picture, we have to take into account the unknown factor of how much fuel the others had on board. However, it is obvious that we are less than satisfied and that, starting from the third and fifth rows means we face a very difficult race tomorrow afternoon. We have a well balanced car and we know we can count on Bridgestone tyres that should deliver consistent performance throughout the race. This factor, along with strategy and overall reliability of the package will be the key tomorrow, as always in fact. Our most realistic target is to get both cars home in the points to keep the fight for both Championships open.”
 

Rubens Barrichello : “I am quite happy with this qualifying performance as a place on the third row of the grid is not so bad. I gave it my all on the lap. It is clear we are still not in a position to fight for pole and of course, I am not very happy about that. But I think we will have a good race pace, partly because the Bridgestone tyres we have here should be more competitive than those we used in Magny-Cours. So it’s a case of going for an attacking strategy, an aggressive drive and try to get a good result!”

Michael Schumacher : “I am not very happy with my lap, especially in the third sector. I had problems there as the car did not react as it should. By the end of the lap, the rear tyre pressures were coming up a bit too much, which explains the lack of grip and the excessive sliding. We will have to find out why. I also had a difficult moment in the second sector, but it did not cost me much time. For sure, starting from the fifth row tomorrow, it will be a case of reacting to how the race unfolds rather than going on the attack.”

Ross Brawn : “We were not able to compete for pole today, but we were looking for good grid positions to form the basis of a strong race tomorrow. Rubens is in a good position, but it was a little bit disappointing for Michael. We will study the data to understand what happened, because the lap looked a little bit messy. I don’t think the car was quite what he expected or wanted. We will try and improve the situation for tomorrow’s race, within the limits of the parc ferme regulations.”

Qualifying session: Rubens Barrichello: 6th 1.20.906 3 laps chassis 246; Michael Schumacher: 10th 1.21.275 3 laps chassis 245; Temperatures: air 20° C, track 26° C