Hungarian Grand Prix – Budapest,
Qualifying session
Session Driver Pos. Time Laps Driver Pos. Time Laps
Q1 MAS 4° 1.20.408 3 RAI 6° 1.20.435 4
Q2 RAI 4° 1.20.107 3 MAS 14° 1.21.021 6
Q3 RAI 4° 1.20.410 12 - - - -
Chassis: F. Massa 260, K. Raikkonen 262
Weather: air temperature 26/25 °C, track temperature 35/34
°C, partially cloudy.
Jean Todt: “A very disappointing qualifying
for us, with one driver fourth and the other fourteenth. Felipe,
who made a small mistake on his first run in Q2, then lost
precious time because of a misunderstanding about refuelling
between the pit wall and the garage. Then, on tyres that were
definitely not at the ideal temperature, he was unable to
improve his time and thus finished outside the top ten. For
his part, Kimi could have reasonably hoped to have finished
third, but just missed his target and ended up fourth. We
know that anything can happen in the race, but we also have
to be realistic and accept that we will have to fight our
way up the order, especially in Felipe’s case. However,
as usual, the final verdict only comes on Sunday afternoon.”
Kimi Raikkonen: “To be honest, we
were not quick enough today to think about beating our closest
rivals, but I think we have a good race pace, which means
we can be more competitive than we looked in qualifying. The
car is very good over a long run, so I am still confident.
Starting from the dirty side of the track is definitely not
an advantage, even if usually we make good starts. On both
my runs in Q3 I did a good lap, but I had too much understeer
in the final two or three turns, where I lost valuable time.
It’s a problem we have had all weekend and we have not
managed to solve it over the first timed lap.”
Felipe Massa: " What happened in Q2
is very frustrating. I made a mistake at the final corner
on my first run, but then, when I came back to the pits, there
was a misunderstanding over refueling and they let me go without
fuel. That’s why I stopped and had to be pushed back
to our area by the mechanics. I went back out again, but the
tyres were very cold and I was not able to do a time good
enough to stay in the top ten. Tomorrow, I expect a very difficult
race, as this is one of the worst places to start from a long
way back. I will try and do my best and to get the car home
as high up the order as possible. From what we have seen today,
I don’t think I could have been on the front row, but
third place would have been a realistic target. Now we have
to look at ways of using strategy to improve our situation.
It’s a shame starting this far back given that the car
has a very good race pace.”
Luca Baldisserri: “We made a serious
mistake in our management of the second qualifying session
for Felipe, not refueling him at the end of his first run.
Then, Felipe found himself on tyres that were too cold and
he was unable to improve, ending up outside the top ten. We
decided to run the softer tyres with Kimi in Q3 but we did
not manage to get the best out of them which led to a performance
drop off in the final sector and that’s what stopped
him from taking third spot. We have to be honest and say that
would have been the best we could have hoped for in this session.
Tomorrow, we are expecting a very tough race, especially in
Felipe’s case. We will try and pick up as many points
as possible.”
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