BMW WilliamsF1-Malaysian GP-First Qualifying

Malaysian Grand Prix  -  FIRST QUALIFYING                    21st March 2003

Weather: Dry and sunny, 35°C Air, 47°C Track

Sepang (MAL). Today¹s first Qualifying decided that the BMW WilliamsF1 Team
drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher will leave the pits for
tomorrows final Qualifying as 3rd last and 7th respectively having achieved
today the 3rd and 13th position.  While the Colombian had a clean lap, the
German had some balance problems which prevented him from getting his fast
lap right and therefore achieving a better position.

Juan Pablo Montoya: 3rd
Chassis: FW25 04
Best time: 1.35,939 min
"I am glad as I could get in a pretty good lap. I am quite happy with my car
at the moment, in spite of some understeer we now need to address. Ferrari
are still quite a bit ahead but it is some  comfort  for me being ahead of
both McLarens. Now we have to decide what we are going to do for tomorrow¹s
qualifying and consequently for the race. Malaysian hot weather doesn¹t
bother me too much, which definitely helps when you have to drive in such
extreme conditions."

Ralf Schumacher: 13th
Chassis: FW25 03 (Spare Car FW25 02)
Best time: 1.36,805 min
"I am obviously not happy with my performance but to be honest I can¹t
really understand   why I am so far behind. In this morning¹s Free Practice
the car behaved well but during the First Qualifying I had to fight with
massive oversteer. However, I still have a chance  to achieve a good grid
position in tomorrow¹s Final Qualifying. According to the new rules I will
have to be out on the track quite early, which is of course a disadvantage."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):
"Juan did a good job today and secured himself a good position for
tomorrow¹s qualifying when he will be out of the pits  third last. Ralf
obviously had a  balance problem which we will have a look at tonight in
order to get the car right for tomorrow and for Sunday. We still have quite
a bit of work ahead of us. Ferrari have proved they still have a big
advantage. The track temperature is very high, 61°C on the tarmac, so this
will put a high demand on the tyres for the race."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
"Apart from Michael Schumacher¹s huge advantage, it was an exciting
qualifying with close lap times. Today one had to pay the price for even the
smallest mistake. Juan Pablo did a very good lap. Ralf was not happy with
the balance of his car which had consequences in every single corner. For
our BMW engine, the most important factor during this weekend is the heat.
So far, we have had no problems with it."