2006 Bahrain GP Qualifying
Saturday March 11, 2006
A new qualifying system, coupled with shifting track conditions,
proved disadvantageous for MF1 Racing at Sakhir on Saturday.
Tiago Monteiro and Christijan Albers, both accustomed to
the one-lap qualifying system they drove under in their rookie
seasons last year, could not improve on their times from morning
practice and were eliminated from the qualifying session after
the first round. Gusting winds and blowing sand did nothing
to help the situation for either driver.
Nevertheless, the team feels it can overcome this minor setback
and make an improved showing in tomorrow's race.
Adrian Burgess, Sporting Director:
"It was our first attempt at a new qualifying system
and so far, we've seen a few strange events happen, which
has been interesting for all of us. We're not particularly
happy being 18th and 19th and we know we've got a lot of work
to do. There's a lot of potential in the car, so I think there
might an opportunity for us to do something tomorrow. We'll
just keep trying to improve as we go on."
Tiago Monteiro (POR), #18
Chassis: M16-03
Best Time, Morning Practice: 1:35.026 (18th)
Qualifying Time / Classification: 1:35.900 (19th)
Quote: "The changing conditions caught us a bit by surprise,
so my first lap wasn't as good as it should have been. My
front wing adjuster broke on that run, and then a subsequent
technical problem in the garage prevented me from getting
out in time and putting in a real qualifying run. Needless
to say, this disappointed me, but worse things can happen.
Now I just have to focus on having a good race tomorrow, and
I'm sure everyone on the team will be motivated to do better."
Christijan Albers (NED), #19
Chassis: M16-02
Best Time, Morning Practice: 1:34.541 (17th)
Qualifying Time / Classification: 1:35.724 (18th)
Quote: "We had some problems with the wind today, which
made things quite difficult at times. The first run was not
so bad, but on the second run I really had some problems with
traffic. It was really just too busy during the warm-up procedure
on the first lap, which in turn made the car feel a little
bit nervous. That's why I wasn't able to improve on my time,
which should have been somewhere in the one-thirty-fours,
easily, so it's a shame. But I'm still looking forward to
tomorrow, because even though we might be down a little bit
on qualifying pace, I think we'll be stronger in the race.
I have a lot of trust in the car and in the team."
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