BMW WilliamsF1 Team - Canadian GP - Qualifying

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From: BMW WilliamsF1 Team <HHientzsch@aol.com>
To: Judy Stropus <jstropus@earthlink.net>
Subject: BMW WilliamsF1 Team - Canadian GP - Qualifying
Date: Sat, Jun 8, 2002, 4:06 PM


Canada Grand Prix - QUALIFYING                                      8th
June 2002

Weather: cloudy, rain in the last minutes, 20ƒC Air, 27ƒC Track

Juan Pablo Montoya will start the Canadian Grand Prix from pole position,
which means the third pole this year for both the driver and the BMW
WilliamsF1 Team and Juan Pablo's sixth F1 career pole position. Team mate
Ralf Schumacher, the winner of last year's Grand Prix, qualified fourth. A
technical problem, during qualifying meant that he had to switch to the
T-car, which was set for Montoya.

Juan Pablo Montoya:       1st
Chassis: FW24 05
Best time: 1:12.836
"I am obviously pleased to start the second race in a row from pole
position. We went out quite early because rain was threatening and we
wanted to get a decent lap in. I knew there was still some room for
improvement in my lap time of this morning and I gave it a go, trying to
put three good sectors together. It makes a true difference to go out on
the track when no one has still run as it is really slippery. The car has
been very competitive so far, and the tyres play a very important role. It
is going to be an interesting race tomorrow where strategy and tyres will
be important factors."

Ralf Schumacher:           4th
Chassis:  FW24 06 (switched to T-Car chassis FW24 02)
Best time: 1.13:301
"To be honest, I was expecting more, but under these conditions I must be
happy with the second row. The T-car was set up for Juan but I have managed
to take the best out of it anyway. There was no way I could aim for pole
position, though. I am confident for the race, also because I am sure that
Michelin are competitive here."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):
"It was a very tight qualifying with the rain coming at the end of the
session. It is very good for Juan to be on pole again, and it is a pity
that Ralf could not join him on the front row. The potential was there, but
after a problem with his race car he had to switch to the T-Car. We quickly
had to change the T-Car from Juan Pablo's settings to Ralf's. For
tomorrow's race I expect a strong fight between Ferrari and us. We will get
ready for this now and also we will keep hoping for good weather on Sunday."


Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director):
"We were hoping to manage to get on pole here in Canada and we are clearly
very pleased. Already in this morning's practice sessions it was clear that
there was going to be a good fight with Ferrari. Juan has set a perfect
qualifying lap. It's a pity for Ralf, who had to jump into the T-car and
couldn't improve his time.  His race car was diagnosed with a leak in the
engine pneumatic system. We should show strongly tomorrow, as in free
practice we have prepared ourselves well for the race."

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