Subscription

Car Racing

Motorcycle Racing

Racing in Oz

Shop

2005 EUROPEAN F1 GRAND PRIX

2005 F1 GP: R7 of 19, 2005 European GP, May 29, Nurburgring

HEIDFELD'S FIRST EVER POLE

• German Williams-BMW driver Nick Heidfeld achieved his maiden F1 pole in front of home crowd.

GRID:

• 1 Nick Heidfeld, Williams-BMW 1m 30.081 (vs 2004 pole 1m 28.351)
  "It is fantastic to get my first pole position in Formula One after so many years, and it is even more to have achieved it here at my home Grand Prix in front of my supporters. There is not much more one could ask for. I didn't do too much running yesterday and I was a bit concerned this would affect my performance today, but obviously we made the right tyre choice. This good result today shows Monaco was not a one-off and we are obviously working in the right direction. I am very much looking forward to the race."
• 2 Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren-Mercedes
  "I am pretty happy with my result as we have a strong position by starting from the front row. The track conditions during the qualifying session were not as good as in the morning. I know I have a good race car and our strategy should be good. Our performance and lap times throughout both practice days were consistent. However it is difficult to say where we are compared to the other teams in terms of fuel load. As long as I get a good start in the race we should be looking good to challenge for a win."
• 3 Mark Webber, Williams-BMW
  "It will be a tough race tomorrow and we will see how our tyres behave, since we didn't have much time yesterday to do our homework. We need a good start of course and we have a good strategy."
• 4 Jarno Trulli, Toyota
  "That was a good lap so I'm very happy. I pushed as hard as I could, made no errors and got everything out of the car. I put in some work yesterday and today on the balance of the car, and it felt very good during qualifying. We are also confident with our strategy for the race, so now I hope to be able to keep that form going and do a good race. It's good to have so much sun and hot weather here at the Nürburgring. The weather here is often a big factor in the race and while there could be thunderstorms we hope it stays good. It's great to have so many of the team here supporting us and it would be wonderful to get a good result so we can dedicate it to the whole team."
• 5 Juan Pablo Montoya, McLaren-Mercedes
  "It was a not a bad lap, but I was suffering from low grip throughout, and I made a slight mistake in the high speed chicane which lost me three tenths of a second. As a result I qualified lower than expected, which is disappointing. After practice this morning we made some improvements to the set up of the car, and we have a strong strategy, so I am optimistic for a good race tomorrow."
• 6 Fernando Alonso, Renault
• 7 Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari
• 8 Ralf Schumacher, Toyota
• 9 Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault
• 10 Michael Schumacher, Ferrari
  "I want to congratulate Nick on his first F1 pole. It was a super lap and he deserves it. On my qualifying lap, I had a bit of understeer, especially in Turn 10 and lost some tenths there. As usual so far this season, I am looking forward to the race when we should be more competitive than today.It is hard for me to predict what we can expect tomorrow, because there have been times over this weekend when things did not look too promising. But the same can be said of Monaco and we had great race pace there, so I just plan to push hard and see what happens, trying to pick up as many points as possible."
• 11 Massa 12 Coulthard 13 Button 14 Liuzzi 15 Villeneuve
• 16 Sato 17 Monteiro 18 Friesacher 19 Karthikeyan 20 Albers

WILLIAMS-BMW QUALIFYING REPORT:

• Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): "Today's qualifying result is great success for both drivers and all technicians. Yesterday we were not been able to achieve sufficient mileage and collect enough data to make our tyre choice. However, at least for qualifying, the decision was the right one. We'd like to congratulate Nick to the first pole position of his F1 career."
• Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): "We obviously have had a good qualifying session and both drivers and the team have recovered well from yesterday. It's a credit to the engineers to get the right set-up, tyre choice and strategy with not much information.We are confident of a strong showing in the race and have no issues on reliability and the brake and engine cooling is under control. Now we are looking forward to a strong race tomorrow."

FERRARI QUALIFYING REPORT:

• Ross Brawn (Tech Director):"We were not in a strong position to challenge for qualifying, but I think we have a good race set-up and we have a nicely consistent tyre for tomorrow. This will be an important factor as the forecast is for very high temperatures. In this afternoon's hotter conditions, the car did not react quite as well as in the morning, but within the scope of changes we are allowed to make for the race, we can compensate for that for tomorrow. Unlike Monaco, there is potential to get something out of a good race strategy and of course it is possible to overtake at this track. So, I am optimistic that we can do something good in the race. We have to hope that both drivers make good starts and then as things settle down, wait and see if the race comes to us."

TOYOTA QUALIFYING REPORT:

• Dieter Gass (Chief Race Engineer): "I think we can be very pleased with the qualifying today. Jarno did another very good lap and Ralf is in a good position too. Ralf reported too much understeer, so overnight we'll look at the data to understand why. But other than that we had no problems. I think we have made the proper tyre choice for the race. That means we can look forward to tomorrow afternoon. We are confident about our race strategy so we'll see how it pans out. Hopefully we can bring a good result home for all the supporters who will be here to cheer us on."

FRI PRACTICE #2, MAY 26, 2005

• 1 *Alex Wurz, McLaren-Mercedes 1m 30.623 (vs 2004 pole 1m 28.351)
• 2 *Ricardo Zonta, Toyota +0.007
• 3 Nick Heidfeld, Williams-BMW +1.1
• 4 Juan Pablo Montoya +1.2
• 5 Kimi Raikkonen +1.24
• 6 Mark Webber +1.46
• 7 Barrichello 8 Alonso 9 Fisichella 10 R Schumacher
• 11 Trulli 12 *Klien 13 M Schumacher 14 Coulthard 15 Sato 16 Button
• 17 Montagny 18 Massa 19 Villeneuve 20 Monteiro

FRI PRACTICE #1, MAY 26, 2005

• 1 *Alex Wurz, McLaren-Mercedes 1m 31.670 (vs 2004 pole 1m 28.351)
• 2 Michael Schumacher, Ferrari +0.9
• 3 *Ricardo Zonta, Toyota +1
• 4 Juan Pablo Montoya +1.2
• 5 Rubens Barrichello +1.31
• 6 Kimi Raikkonen +1.31
• 7 Heidfeld 8 Webber 9 *Klien 10 R Schumacher
• 11 Trulli 12 Massa 13 Coulthard 14 Villeneuve 15 Liuzzi
• *reserve driver

FERRARI REPORT, FRI PRACTICE:

• BRAWN (TECH DIRECTOR): "A good day in general. The cars seem to be well balanced and the tyres are performing consistently over the first lap. We had an electrical problem on Michael's car, which we have yet to analyse. It meant we lost the second half of the afternoon session, which was a shame. However, we got some good work done on the tyre front and now we can analyse the data tonight to decide on which type of tyre to use for qualifying and the race."
• M SCHUMACHER: "In performance terms, it looks quite good so far, as we are not so far off the times of the quickest guys, not counting the Friday-only drivers, so generally I would say it is going well this weekend. It's a shame I had an electrical problem. It was nothing major, but there was not enough time to fix it before the end of the session. But we have enough data from Rubens' car on which to base our decisions regarding set-up and especially which way to go on tyre choice."

RACE PREVIEW:

McLAREN-MERCEDES

• RAIKKONEN: "After such a great result in Monaco, I am really looking forward to racing again this coming weekend. The MP4-20 package is working really well and hopefully we will continue to be competitive in Germany. The Nürburgring has quite good grip and we use a medium downforce configuration as it has a mix of corners, straights and hairpins. It is totally different to Monaco in this way, and it is of course a lot faster, although it is not one of the quickest. It is a fun track to drive, and hopefully we will be able to put on an exciting race for the Mercedes-Benz home crowd."
• MONTOYA: "I can't wait to get back on track at the Nürburgring this weekend, and hopefully have a trouble free weekend to take advantage of the current performance of the car. This event is notorious for understeer, so there will be a focus on dialling it out during Friday's Free Practice sessions. Unlike Monaco there are a couple of overtaking opportunities at the Nürburgring, such as at the NGK Chicane and the hairpin in the Mercedes Arena. I am really looking forward to racing in front of the Mercedes-Benz fans and employees for the first time and enjoying their support."

RENAULT

• ALONSO: "it will be important to prepare well and have a trouble-free approach to the race. The place where you can really make up time on the lap is in the first sector, under braking and in the slow corners, but you have also have every type of corner at the Nuerburgring -- and they are all important. Renault has not been on the podium there, and I think we have a good shot at it this year"
• FISCHELLA: "Monaco was very tough, the car was really undriveable in the last twenty laps and I have never had such a difficult race. After a race like that, it is hard to be totally confident for a Grand Prix just one week later, but I believe the Nuerburgring should be much better for us. It will be a much more normal circuit for the car in terms of its characteristics, and even in Monaco for the first half of the race, we saw that our car was among the quickest in the field, as it has been all year. I think we can come back strongly this weekend and show our true level of performance"

RED BULL

• COULTHARD: "After a disappointing race in Monaco I am hoping for better luck in this weekend's race at the Nürburgring. We were very unlucky to be put out of the race last weekend as I was heavy on fuel and could have been one of the last to pit. I never spend too much time reflecting on what might have been so I'm just looking forward to getting on with the job this weekend."
• LIUZZI: "This is one of my favourite circuits and I have good memories of the place as I won my first car race here in Formula Renault. The track is long and technically challenging, with some up and downhill sections and a good mix of slow, medium and fast turns and some rapid changes of direction - it should be fun to drive in an F1 car. The key to a good lap here is to get into a rhythm, balancing your own style with what you can get out of the traction control when dealing with the chicanes. After three grands prix, I feel I have gained a lot of experience and I hope to put it to good use this weekend"

TOYOTA

• TRULLI: "I'm lucky enough to have raced a lot around the Nürburgring from my time in German Formula Three so I know the circuit very well. That kind of experience helps when it comes to predicting what the weather could do and planning strategy, as it did when I finished second in a rain-affected race there in 1999. The circuit is quite challenging to drive but I really don't have any favourite corners. I'd call it a normal circuit , not particularly technical. The most important thing is to find a good rhythm. The corners come thick and fast and you can go quickly if you can string them together well. With the Toyota Motorsport's factory so close by we should have lots of support, not least from the employees themselves. Everything we manage at the racetrack is down to the work done by the guys in the factory. So it will be great to see them, there should be a great atmosphere and I hope to get back into the points with another good result."
• R SCHUMACHER: "I've always really enjoyed racing at the Nürburgring, which is a special venue for me as it is very close to Kerpen, the town where I grew up. I used to practise my driving around the old Nordschleife although the lack of run-off areas means that I find it hard to believe that F1 cars ever raced there. This year will be my 20th race around the modern circuit in all formulae. I won my first Formula Junior race there and I was happy to win the grand prix two years ago. The circuit is quite typical of F1 with a mix of fast and slow corners. Tyre wear is important, especially at the rear because it is a traction circuit. This year's race will be extra special because this is the closest race to Toyota Motorsport's factory in Cologne. I have heard that every member of the team at the factory in Cologne has received a ticket to one of the grandstands over the course of the weekend, so Jarno and I will be sure to enjoy a tremendous amount of support, which will be highly appreciated."

BAR-HONDA

• BUTTON: "It goes without saying how much we racing drivers look forward to our next Grand Prix, but it's been five weeks since I last raced at Imola and I'm very excited about getting back in the car this weekend. The whole team is incredibly upbeat and determined. I've been so impressed with the way they've handled this situation and I can't wait to see what we can achieve at the Nürburgring. The most frustrating thing about the past few weeks has been knowing that we have a strong car with some very impressive new developments just sitting in the factory when we could have been out there challenging for podiums, if not wins. That's behind us now though. What matters is going forward and demonstrating why we belong at the top. I finished on the podium here last year in 3rd position and I know we can be stronger than that this time. I enjoy racing here at the best of times and the track has some great high-speed corners and interesting undulations. The car will be strong here, no question. I'm just counting down the hours now until free practice on Friday!"
• SATO: "I'm very excited to make our return to racing again at the Nürburgring after the past few difficult weeks. I'm confident of our performance there because we have developed a very strong car in the recent tests and the team has done a fantastic job in the circumstances. In fact, development has been non-stop at the factory and on the test track, and everyone in the team is very determined and motivated. It will be exciting for all of us to see what the car is capable of. I really enjoy racing at this circuit; it has some interesting track characteristics, particularly a lot of undulation which make it a lot of fun to drive. It's a good place to make our comeback. We had a strong race here last year and I'm looking forward to a good performance on Sunday."
• DE FERRAN (SPORTING DIR): "We have spent the last few weeks waiting somewhat impatiently for this weekend and, although we would rather have been racing, all efforts went into turning this hiatus into an opportunity for the team to improve its performance. We continued testing and are confident of a good showing at the Nürburgring, just as we were heading into Barcelona. Since we last raced in Imola there have been several enhancements to our aerodynamic performance, which bode well for the coming races. As we haven't had the opportunity to measure up against the competition, we look forward to doing so at the Nürburgring."

WILLIAMS-BMW

• WEBBER: "The Nürburgring is a track steeped in history, especially the old part of the circuit. As it's located in the mountains, the weather can be very temperamental and normally plays a big role in the race. I think the way the organisers have changed the layout of the first sector over the last few years has made it more interesting than it was in the past and the Dunlop Kurve, where you have a quick left-right up the hill, is a great part of the lap. I also like the circuit because it has a good mix of corners. The Nürburgring is obviously an important race for BMW so it would be good to repeat the success of Monaco and get another good result there."
• HEIDFELD: "The race at the Nürburgring is a very special one for me. It's my home GP as it's the closest track to Mönchengladbach where I was born. I learned how to ride a bike near the circuit when I was three years old and my father often used to take my two brothers and me there when we were young. In the winter, we would go sledging on the Nordschleife! When I was eight, I started go karting there as well, so it's easy to understand why I have a special relationship with the circuit. I've raced at the Nürburgring many times, in Formula Ford, Formula 3 and Formula 3000, and have always enjoyed it. I've also won quite a few races there too! It's also nice to go there because I have more supporters at the Nürburgring than at any other race. During the GP weekend, I will have to spend more time doing PR work and interviews, but it is part of the sport and I actually like it. It's a great boost to go to my home Grand Prix having achieved my best result in my F1 career so far at Monaco last weekend and I hope I can do well again for the team in Germany."
• MICHAEL (TECH DIR): "As we are in the middle of back to back races, we can not have the normal testing session after the Monaco GP. However, we are completing a shakedown test at Silverstone with Nico Rosberg, and we used previous test sessions to verify the tyre compounds that Michelin are bringing to Germany. The Nürburgring is a high downforce circuit, with a lot of medium speed corners and one high speed section. There are two opportunities for overtaking into the first corner and one more obvious one into the last chicane. All of the chassis parts that we added to the car for Monaco will be used at the Nürburgring. We have improved the aerodynamics on the FW27 significantly since the start of the season and we are concentrating on traction control and start performance with BMW."

Advertising Enquiry