US Grand Prix – Indianapolis, 16th June 2007
Qualifying session
Session Driver Pos. Time Laps Driver Pos. Time Laps
Q1 MAS 5th 1.12.731 5 RAI 6th 1.12.732 4
Q2 RAI 3rd 1.12.111 6 MAS 4th 1.12.180 3
Q3 MAS 3rd 1.12.703 12 RAI 4th 1.12.839 12
Chassis: F. Massa 260, K. Raikkonen 262
Weather: air temperature 32/31 °C, track temperature
45/46 °C, Sunny, some clouds..
Jean Todt:
"The result of this qualifying confirms a trend that
has been emerging over the past couple of Grands Prix. It
was a very closely contested session at the end of which we
got both our cars onto the second row. Tomorrow, we can expect
a very long and difficult race, where reliability and strategy
will, as usual, play a very important role. With there only
being one tyre supplier, Bridgestone, we know that tyre performance
can vary from car to car and from what we have seen in free
practice we can be very consistent in performance terms. We
will tackle the race with the qualities we have always displayed,
namely passion and determination.”
Felipe Massa:
“I am pretty satisfied and think we can have a strong
race tomorrow. We cannot be completely happy about this result
but we must not be hard on ourselves either. It would have
been difficult to get pole and third place means I will start
from a good grid position. We know we can count on a very
consistent car in terms of race pace. The start will also
play an important part, as will strategy. We will try and
make up some place and get the best position possible.”
Kimi Raikkonen:
“All in all, fourth place is quite a good result. It
was a very close session and we have to take into account
the difference in weights between the cars, something which
we will not have an answer to until tomorrow afternoon. Of
course, I would like to always be ahead of everyone and there
is always room for improvement but I think we can have a good
race. It is important that there are no other cars between
us and our main rivals. The car has gone well so far this
weekend, especially in terms of delivering consistent performance
on a long run. We will do our best to bring home a good result.”
Luca Baldisserri:
“A very close fought qualifying which saw us get both
cars onto the second row. All things considered, it is a reasonably
positive result because it puts us in quite good shape for
the race. Obviously to evaluate our performance fully, we
need to take into account the unknown concerning the amount
of fuel people have for the first part of the race. We know
that, on the opening lap, we could have some difficulties,
but free practice demonstrated that our cars deliver very
consistent performance and that means we can be relatively
confident. It will be a very tough race run in high temperatures:
so as usual, reliability will be crucial.”
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