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Formula One: Japanese Grand Prix qualifying: BMW Williams F1 Team

7 October 2000

Japanese Grand Prix - QUALIFYING
         7th October 2000

Weather: Overcast and humid.
Average air temperature 23°C. Average track temperature 29°C

Both drivers of the BMW WilliamsF1 Team, Jenson Button and Ralf
Schumacher, will start the race from the third row for the first time this
season. They were respectively 5th and 6th quickest in qualifying for
the 2000 Japanese Grand Prix. 

Jenson Button 
    Position: 
    5th  
Chassis:
         FW22 04
Fastest Lap:
         1.36.628
"It's great to come to a circuit like Suzuka for the first time and qualify
fifth! It's one of the best moments of this season for me. It's amazing! I
owe a lot to the mechanics and to the engineers, because they did a
great job. But I cannot start celebrating yet - obviously tomorrow I
have to finish the race. This is a particularly technical circuit and it
wasn't an easy job, I must say, because it took me a little bit longer to
learn. Yesterday I was about 1.5 seconds off Ralf's pace, but we've got
it together now."

Ralf Schumacher 
    Position: 
    6th   
Chassis:
         FW22 06
Fastest Lap:
         1:36.788
"We can be absolutely happy starting from the third row. I wasn't
really lucky with my car, as during qualifying it wasn't quite as good as
in this morning's free practice. I couldn't manage to find the perfect
set-up." 

 Frank Williams
"Very encouraging performance by everybody in the team, especially
the two drivers and their engineers. We wait with impatience for
tomorrow."

 Patrick Head (Technical Director WilliamsF1)
"A good solid qualifying with both our cars on the third row. Ralf was
losing time to Jenson on the straights, we are not sure why as settings
were similar. The two top teams are a bit in their own class but we
hope we can race well tomorrow and we can produce some points."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director)
"For the first time both our cars will start from the third row. This
equality makes us happy and our position again reflects our situation.
So far we could only breach the two top teams when they had a
problem. From this starting position we can well hope for some
points. Once again Jenson gave a great performance. During the
whole weekend he has kept up with the other more experienced
drivers on such a difficult track."