Japanese Grand Prix – Suzuka, 7th October 2006
Qualifying session
Session Driver Pos. Time Laps Driver Pos. Time Laps
Q1 FM 1st 1.30.112 3 MS 7th 1.31.279 3
Q2 MS 1st 1.28.954 3 FM 2nd 1.29.830 3
Q3 FM 1st 1.29.599 10 MS 2nd 1.29.711 11
Chassis: MS 255 FM 256
Temperatures: air 23 °C track 33/31 °C
Sixth pole of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, following
on from those in Sakhir, Imola, Indianapolis, Magny-Cours
and Istanbul, the second for Felipe Massa. For the fifth time
this season, both Ferraris line up on the front row of the
grid. This is pole number 185 in Ferrari’s history,
the ninth at this track.
Jean Todt: “A great all-red front
row, which comes at a crucial moment in the season. Felipe
secured a really good pole position on a track which highlights
driver talent. Bridgestone has brought excellent tyres here
and it is not a fluke that the top four cars on the grid are
all on the Japanese rubber. We know how important tyre performance
will be in determining the final result and today it was clear
that the overall package is in excellent shape. Now the biggest
step of the weekend awaits and by that I mean the 53 race
laps. The key factors will be the same as ever: apart from
the aforementioned tyres, they are the work of the team and
drivers, reliability and strategy. We will have to be perfect
in every area to achieve our objectives.”
Felipe Massa: “This is a fantastic
result. To be on pole position at a track that I like very
much and where the driver counts for a lot is very special.
I managed to do a great lap, with no mistakes and starting
from the front is definitely important for the race. I am
also happy that we have both Ferraris on the front row and
that our main rivals are two rows behind us and I hope we
can also finish the race with them the same number of places
behind us. I am looking forward to the race when I hope we
can continue to score as many points as possible for both
championships and for me to try and reach my personal target
of finishing third in the Drivers’ classification. The
Bridgestone tyres and the car behaved very well and we can
expect this to also be the case tomorrow afternoon.”
Michael Schumacher: “Two Ferraris
on the front row is the perfect position for the start, given
that our main rivals are on row three. There was a lot of
wind and even when trying to push hard, there is always the
thought that you mustn’t go over the limit, also partly
because we know we have a very competitive package. On the
dry, our performance has proved to be very consistent, thanks
also to the valuable support of our friends at Bridgestone
and that means we can be confident about tomorrow’s
race. I can’t wait to see if all these theories can
come true tomorrow. I am happy with the position from which
I am starting, especially as Felipe is alongside me, after
doing an extraordinary job today. Driving on this track in
the way the performance of our car has allowed us to do is
really marvellous. I am having so much fun, especially in
the Esses which are a part of the track I am particularly
keen on.”
Ross Brawn: “We are very happy with
this qualifying: the cars proved to be well balanced, the
drivers performed impeccably and the Bridgestone tyres were
excellent. Of course, we now have to tackle the most important
part of the Grand Prix weekend, namely the race, but I can
confidently say that we have all the necessary ingredients
to do well. We had a clear idea as to which of the two types
of tyre we wanted to use and the choice seems to have been
the right one.”
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