Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Olivier Panis and Cristiano Da Matta will start the Monaco Grand Prix, Formula 1's glamour event, from 13th and 15th positions respectively on the grid. Both drivers were pleased with their qualifying laps, given that expectations were not high for this weekend. The tight and twisty nature of the Monaco streets means that cars require high levels of downforce, something that the TF104 still lacks. Nevertheless, the team believes it has extracted the most from the cars ahead of the gruelling 78-lap race tomorrow.
"Obviously you want to qualify as high as possible here because it is so tough to overtake," Panis said. "I did everything I could and the car felt better than it did in morning practice. Cristiano and I had a close battle with the Jaguars, but we still basically need some more pace. Hopefully that will come with the mid-season developments that are planned, but for now we will continue to push and see if we can pick anything up tomorrow."
Da Matta added: "We have struggled for grip this weekend and in the circumstances I think that we have got just about everything out of the car that was there to be had. I was actually quite pleased with my qualifying lap today."
Panasonic Toyota Racing's Technical Director, Chassis, Mike Gascoyne, explained: "We knew that we would be lacking in grip here and that qualifying could be difficult for us, so we have elected to run a more conservative race strategy. Considering the way the tyres are behaving, it was the best solution for us. Monaco is often a race of attrition and our general car balance is not bad. We will be aiming at getting both cars to the finish and you never quite know what situations Monte Carlo will produce."
Jarno Trulli (1m13.985s) claimed the first pole position of his career for the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team, some 0.36s clear of Ralf Schumacher's BMW Williams. The German driver will actually have to start the race 10 places further back on the grid, however, following an engine change on Thursday. Jenson Button (1m14.396s) will therefore line up second, just a hundredth of a second quicker than Trulli's team mate, Fernando Alonso (1m14.408s). Six times champion Michael Schumacher (1m14.516s) will start a race off the front row for the first time this year, while Kimi Raikkonen (1m14.592s) was sixth quickest with the first of the West McLaren Mercedes cars.
Olivier Panis (Car 17, Chassis TF104/07, T-car TF104/03)
Pre-Qualifying: 10th
Lap Time: 1m15.125s (+0.642s)
Qualifying: 13th
Lap Time: 1m15.859s (+1.874s)
Grid Position: 13th
"Through this morning's sessions, I had some problems and did not feel too confident in the car, but this afternoon was much better. All the engineers and mechanics reacted very well after the practice to prepare a good car for me in qualifying. We did not expect to be fantastic at this circuit, but we did the job we needed to do and I am quite happy with my qualifying lap."
Cristiano da Matta (Car 16, Chassis TF104/04, T-car TF104/06)
Pre-Qualifying: 13th
Lap Time: 1m15.738s (+1.255s)
Qualifying: 15th
Lap Time: 1m16.169s (+2.184s)
Grid Position: 15th
"I felt that my lap was actually quite good considering our general lack of grip and I think we extracted all we could from the car today. Of course, there is always a little bit to gain here or there, but I don't believe we would have been able to achieve much more. In terms of performance, I hope that we can be a little bit better in the race, we just have to see what tomorrow brings."
Mike Gascoyne - Technical Director Chassis
"Coming here, we knew that we would struggle for pace in qualifying, so we have aimed for a more conservative race strategy. With the way the tyres are behaving, I am sure that this is the right decision. The team did a reasonable job today and the cars are quite well balanced, just lacking in grip, as we knew they would be. Now we have to see how the race pans out tomorrow and ensure that we get both cars to the finish."
Grand Prix of Monaco - Qualifying 1
Pos. Driver Team Time Gap Laps Speed
1 R. Schumacher BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:14.483 3 161.432
2 K. Raikkonen West McLaren Mercedes 1:14.659 0.176 3 161.052
3 D. Coulthard West McLaren Mercedes 1:14.728 0.245 3 160.903
4 J. Button Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:14.799 0.316 3 160.750
5 G. Fisichella Sauber Petronas 1:14.814 0.331 3 160.718
6 F. Alonso Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:14.816 0.333 3 160.714
7 T. Sato Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:14.931 0.448 3 160.467
8 J. Trulli Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:14.993 0.510 3 160.334
9 J. Montoya BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:15.029 0.546 3 160.258
10 O. Panis Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:15.125 0.642 3 160.053
11 R. Barrichello Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:15.329 0.846 3 159.619
12 F. Massa Sauber Petronas 1:15.436 0.953 3 159.393
13 C. da Matta Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:15.738 1.255 3 158.757
14 M. Schumacher Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:15.927 1.444 3 158.362
15 M. Webber Jaguar Racing 1:16.161 1.678 3 157.876
16 C. Klien Jaguar Racing 1:16.379 1.896 3 157.425
17 N. Heidfeld Jordan Ford 1:16.914 2.431 3 156.330
18 G. Pantano Jordan Ford 1:17.674 3.191 3 154.800
19 Z. Baumgartner Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:20.468 5.985 3 149.425
20 G. Bruni Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:20.740 6.257 3 148.922
Grand Prix of Monaco - Qualifying 2
Pos. Driver Team Time Gap Laps kph
1 J. Trulli Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:13.985 3 162.519
2 R. Schumacher BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:14.345 0.360 3 161.732
3 J. Button Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:14.396 0.411 3 161.621
4 F. Alonso Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:14.408 0.423 3 161.595
5 M. Schumacher Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:14.516 0.531 3 161.361
6 K. Raikkonen West McLaren Mercedes 1:14.592 0.607 3 161.196
7 R. Barrichello Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:14.716 0.731 3 160.929
8 T. Sato Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:14.827 0.842 3 160.69
9 D. Coulthard West McLaren Mercedes 1:14.951 0.966 3 160.424
10 J. Montoya BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:15.039 1.054 3 160.236
11 G. Fisichella Sauber Petronas 1:15.352 1.367 3 159.571
12 M. Webber Jaguar Racing 1:15.725 1.740 3 158.785
13 O. Panis Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:15.859 1.874 3 158.504
14 C. Klien Jaguar Racing 1:15.919 1.934 3 158.379
15 C. da Matta Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:16.169 2.184 3 157.859
16 F. Massa Sauber Petronas 1:16.248 2.263 3 157.695
17 N. Heidfeld Jordan Ford 1:16.488 2.503 3 157.201
18 G. Pantano Jordan Ford 1:17.443 3.458 3 155.262
19 Z. Baumgartner Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:20.060 6.075 3 150.187
20 G. Bruni Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:20.115 6.130 3 150.084
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Originally Posted by CoTTerik
