Monaco GP: Saturday Quotes
“It's so important to qualify well in Monaco and I am really happy to have achieved pole position here today. It means a lot to me, they all do, but this one is so important for the race tomorrow. It was definitely a lap to remember and I was really on the edge the whole way round! It was a real fight today and I thought that Rubens would have the upper hand in qualifying as he has been so strong all weekend. I struggled on Thursday to find a good balance and we had a few issues that needed to be worked on, however we made some changes since then. I really have to thank everyone at the factory in Brackley and at Mercedes-Benz for producing such a strong and responsive car which allows us to make progress quickly. It's not going to be easy in the race tomorrow as Monaco is just so unpredictable but starting from pole is without doubt the best position be in."
Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari (2nd, 1:14.927):
“Second place is a nice result but I'm disappointed that I missed out on pole by a few hundredths. Here, there is a much bigger difference between starting from first or second place. The car has improved and that can be seen from the performance level. Today, we felt ever more comfortable as the track's grip level improved bit by bit. I had some difficulties on the first run in Q1, but then things got better all the time. In the end, I had the possibility of doing another lap, but I went long at the first corner: I don't know if I could have done a better time. Tomorrow's race will be long and tough. The start will be very important and on the short straight here, the KERS will definitely be a help, but not as much as elsewhere. All the same, it's good to be back in the fight for the top places and I will give it my best shot to try and win, because that's the only thing that matters."
Rubens Barrichello, Brawn-Mercedes (3rd, 1:15.077):
“Well I had a great lap today at the end of the final qualifying session so Jenson's lap must have been fantastic! I'm very happy with my position for the race tomorrow and really got everything possible out of the car today. Of course I'm sorry that I didn't get pole position but the car has felt really good all weekend and we have a great chance for the race tomorrow. This is my seventeenth Monaco Grand Prix but the special feeling that you get from driving around here never changes and it is such a great challenge. It will be a really close and exciting race tomorrow and I'll be giving my all for the win."
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault (4th, 1:15.271):
“As I came out of Rascasse, Nakajima was almost stopped on the circuit and, you know, if you want to get everything right here in qualifying you have to have a clear lap. That wasn't the case on the last half of my lap when I was stuck in traffic – when that happens you lose downforce and start to slide, so it's anything but qualifying! It was a shame today as the car was good and we could have done better – but there are 78 laps to go, so let's see what happens tomorrow."
Felipe Massa, Ferrari (5th, 1:15.437):
“Today's showing confirms we are capable of fighting for the top places. We were in with a chance of getting into the top three, but I never managed to get a clean lap, partly because of traffic and partly through some small slip ups. These things can easily happen in Monaco and fifth is still a good place to start the race. I am confident for tomorrow. It will be a long race, but the F60 is competitive. Step by step we are getting back to where we are used to being. The accident at the start of Q1? I had new brakes and the harder tires, which struggled a bit more to get up to temperature, so as soon as I touched the brakes, I locked the wheels and ended up against the guardrail."
Nico Rosberg, Williams-Toyota (6th, 1:15.455):
“The first two sessions went fine today, but I was not happy with the final conclusion in Q3. P6 was not where I wanted to be and it should have been better. I had some balance problems in the last run and some traffic, particularly with Barrichello on my fastest lap, so I didn't manage to make the best of the circumstances. Anyway, that's the way it has played out and we just need to make the best of it. There is still the opportunity to have a good race tomorrow from a reasonable starting position, so I am still of the view that anything is possible."
Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes (7th, 1:15.516):
“I've felt really comfortable with the car throughout the whole weekend. Obviously, we wanted to be on pole but didn't manage that – let's see how the race unfolds and where we'll be after the first stops. Lewis was very unfortunate this afternoon – we are always at the limit around here and a little slip-up can put you into the barriers. I touched the guardrails three times during qualifying and I'm lucky that it didn't have any negative consequences."
Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault (8th, 1:15.653):
“That wasn't too bad, we knew it was going to be very tight, but we have a reasonable strategy for tomorrow. There are some different ideas going round about what tires everyone will start the race on, as the hard and soft tires have different characteristics in race conditions. I'm reasonably happy with what I did today, maybe we could have done a different strategy in Q3 – it was my idea to do one run, but maybe we should have done two."
Fernando Alonso, Renault (9th, 1:16.009):
“Overall I'm happy with my performance as I did the best I could today. At the end of the session I was caught in a line of traffic, but honestly our ninth place reflects where our car is at the moment because I was 12th in Q1 and 9th in Q2. It's clear that we still need to improve and find more speed."
Kazuki Nakajima, Williams-Toyota (10th, 1:17.344):
“It was a good session for me, it is of course the first time I have made it into Q3 this season, so I do want to say thanks to the team for preparing a good car. I am pleased that I achieved a top ten slot as obviously grid position is crucial here and this is not a very easy track. I am confident I can have a good race tomorrow and our start position will certainly give me the chance to improve on our recent results."
Sébastien Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari (11th, 1:15.833):
“I am reasonably happy with my performance, although I could have made it into the top ten if I hadn't made a mistake at the final corner. But there's no point thinking about that anymore. Now we must concentrate on tomorrow, trying to find the best possible strategy. We have seen that our car is much more competitive than before and I think we can aspire to finish in the top eight and get some points. I am confident we can do well."
Nelson Piquet jr., Renault (12th, 1:15.837):
“I'm not totally happy because my ideal lap would have put me in the top ten. However, the car wasn't perfect and I didn't have the ideal brake balance which made it difficult to get the most from the car. If you had said to me before the weekend that we would have this result, I think I would have been relatively satisfied and starting 12th is not too bad. Now we need to concentrate on making the most of the strategy tomorrow."
Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India-Mercedes (13th, 1:16.146):
“I think we can be really satisfied and very happy with the performance today. The team worked well and two cars in the top 15 is good: very encouraging. We did a good job together, we still have some work to do but the result shows we're going in the right direction. For tomorrow I want to get to the end of the race and let's see – this is Monaco, you never know what can happen."
Sébastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso-Ferrari (14th, 1:16.281):
“This morning I was pretty happy with the balance of the car, but this afternoon, I just could not get the car to turn and I don't know why. I touched the barriers a few times, but there's a big difference between touching and hitting! It's disappointing because I think the car had the potential to get to Q3 today, but fourteenth is not so far back, so we will see what we can do tomorrow."
Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes (15th, 1:16.545):
“A very good qualifying for us, with two cars into Q2 for the first time ever. It feels a bit like a pole position for us, and it was fun to be able to do it. Everything came together, the team did a good job in the garage and I felt my lap was strong. It was difficult to do, with the traffic and then the stoppages, but it was a good run for us. Tomorrow I hope we will be able to fight in the midfield and try to get ahead of some people. The start could be a bit tricky, as it always is here, but I feel all set for tomorrow. We are really motivated now and are hoping for a good race."
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes (16th, 1:16.264):
“I made a mistake. I just braked too late – it's unfortunate, but these things happen. It's not been a good day: I had been going well all weekend and had the possibility of being on the front row. It's a shame for the team, because they have done such a fantastic job all weekend and the car has felt really strong – as Heikki's grid position shows. Starting 16th is frustrating, but I'll learn from this, drive my heart out tomorrow and see what happens."
Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber-BMW (17th, 1:16.264):
“Obviously this is extremely disappointing. We made a lot of changes after Thursday's free practice and even more changes after this morning's session, although this is always a bit risky shortly before qualifying. But we knew we hadn't much to lose. Actually it was rather a change for the worse than for the better, but it didn't really make a big difference anyway. It is frustrating when you go to the absolute limit and take every risk, especially here on this special circuit, and you still end up nowhere. Currently we don't know what's wrong. In Barcelona we made a step forward, but here we are way behind expectations."
Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber-BMW (18th, 1:16.405):
“So far we have only had difficulties. We struggled on Thursday and again this morning. I had a very bad out lap with a lot of traffic. As a result my tires cooled down a lot. However, the overall performance of the car is not good enough. We have to realize we are bad. We have to adapt to the situation and we have to work very hard now."
Jarno Trulli, Toyota (19th, 1:16.548):
“It is extremely disappointing but especially because I was on a pretty good lap at the end of Q1 when I was blocked by another car in the final two corners. That would have been my quickest lap and I would have been easily in Q2. So I am angry about that but ultimately we haven't shown good enough performance this weekend."
Timo Glock, Toyota (20th, 1:16.788):
“We have to analyze and see where the problems are. We struggled from the first lap this weekend. The car didn't feel great but it didn't feel terrible, it was just that the pace clearly wasn't there. I pushed as hard as possible but it wasn't enough. Obviously I will do my best in the race tomorrow but from this position on the grid we don't have much hope."