2006 European GP - Qualifying
After demonstrating promising pace in all three free practice
sessions, Midland F1 tasted bitter disappointment today after
a timing system error prevented both drivers from completing
their final qualifying laps.
Following promising first runs by both drivers, an erroneous
red flag was indicated by the timing system, ruining plans
at a second attempt. As a result, Christijan Albers and Tiago
Monteiro were pushed down to 18th and 20th positions, knocking
them out of the qualifying session after the first heat.
Tiago Monteiro (POR), #18
Chassis: M16-03
Third Timed Session Classification: 19th, 1:33.744 (+2.956),
19 laps completed
Qualifying Classification: 20th, 1.33.658 (+3.839 from Pole
Position Lap), 6 laps completed
Quote: "Considering the problems we had yesterday today
was much better: we had very good performance this morning,
and the car was feeling much better, actually. Then, this
afternoon in qualifying, as the temperatures rose, the car
was feeling even more balanced, so I was feeling extremely
encouraged. But I made a big mistake in Turn 6 on my first
qualifying lap and unfortunately, I wasn't able to fully capitalise
on the car's improvement on that run. But I thought I would
have two runs, so I was focusing on making the most of my
second chance. And then, inexplicably, we got penalised by
that false red flag, which nobody seems to understand. I really
hope the organisers have an explanation for that, because,
in the end, it might not be a big deal for them, but it cost
me my second run and a potential attempt to break into the
second qualifying heat. My goal is to be in front of my team
mate and as close as possible to the others, and this error
cost me that opportunity, so that's a shame. But I'm still
positive for the race tomorrow. At least we've sorted out
the handling issues and have a pretty good balance with those
tyres."
Christijan Albers (NED), #19
Chassis: M16-04
Third Timed Session Classification: 20th, 1:34.469 (+3.681),
21 laps completed
Qualifying Classification: 18th, 1:32.936 (+3.117 from Pole
Position Lap), 5 laps completed
Quote: "We could have been into the second group today
and maybe even higher, because the car was running really
well. I mean, the first lap I did was reasonable but not great,
so I knew I could do even better on the second lap. And then,
on that second run, my steering display was showing that I
was about six- or seven-tenths quicker through the first two
sectors, so who knows? I might have been able to knock off
a one-thirty-one. It's really a shame that it had to end that
way, because I really believed that it was possible for us
to show what we're capable of today. But we were hit by bad
luck again, just as we were in Imola. Hopefully, we can overcome
it tomorrow."
Colin Kolles, Managing Director: "We will look into what
happened with that timing error, because I think it's pretty
clear that we suffered the biggest disadvantage as a result
of this problem. But anyway, more importantly, the time gap
to the front is shrinking all the time. We're still not where
we want to be, but you can be sure we will work hard to get
there."
Dominic Harlow, Chief Race and Test Engineer:
"This is an unusually disappointing outcome from what
was looking like being a good session for us. Extremely disappointing,
in fact, because we need things at this stage to go well for
us to make progress and make it into the later stages of qualifying.
Today, because of a split-second occurrence, it didn't happen.
We would like, perhaps, everyone to give some thought to what
could be done in the future to avoid that sort of unfair outcome
from happening again. Maybe they should have allowed more
cars into the second session to make up for it, or perhaps
considered extending the first session - something that would
have allowed us to complete the qualifying runs we'd allowed
time for. But yes, obviously, we're disappointed."
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