Bahrain Grand Prix - Qualifying Round-Up
Saturday 5 April 2008
Today's Weather: Warm and sunny, air 28-29C, track 39-44C
Best 2008 grid position: 3rd, Jarno Trulli (Malaysia)
Best 2008 race result: 4th, Jarno Trulli (Malaysia)
Jarno Trulli (Car 11, Chassis TF108-02)
Summary: Made it through to Q3 and the fourth row PROVISIONAL
GRID: 7th
FP3 4th Best Lap Time: 1m 32.901s (+0.380s) Laps: 18
Q1 2nd Best Lap Time: 1m 32.493s (+0.556s) Laps: 7
Q2 7th Best Lap Time: 1m 32.159s (+0.971s) Laps: 6
Q3 7th Best Lap Time: 1m 33.994s (+0.898s) Laps: 6
"We are exactly where we wanted to be. Seventh is the
best we could achieve in these conditions because we know
that Ferrari, McLaren and BMW are still a little bit quicker.
So I'm happy, particularly because we again easily made it
into the top 10. Before Q3 our fuel rig had an electrical
problem so we had to change the rig but it worked out in the
end. The car seems well balanced and I am comfortable but
obviously we all want a little bit more. We are catching up
and we are getting closer to the front. Even if the race is
tough with these windy conditions, I'm confident that I will
be stronger in the race than in qualifying so we can definitely
get points."
Timo Glock (Car 12, Chassis TF108-01)
Summary: Strong in Q1 but narrowly missed Q3 PROVISIONAL GRID:
13th
FP3 15th Best Lap Time: 1m 33.595s (+1.074s) Laps: 20
Q1 6th Best Lap Time: 1m 32.800s (+0.863s) Laps: 9
Q2 13th Best Lap Time: 1m 32.528s (+1.340s) Laps: 6
"It was a bit difficult today, especially with the last
set of tyres in Q2. On the first run I had confidence in the
car and I knew that I could go quicker. But on the out lap
for the last run I could feel that it wasn't working the same
way. The wind also made it more difficult and the lap was
not perfect so I couldn't improve my time. That took me out
of the top ten so it just didn't happen this time. I'm disappointed
because the last two Saturdays have been good for us and this
makes it more difficult at the first corner tomorrow. Still,
we will push hard to gain ground during the race."
Pascal Vasselon - Senior General Manager Chassis
"This weekend has been completely dominated by track
conditions. When it's windy in Bahrain the track becomes dusty
and sandy and that has determined the performance profile
throughout the practice sessions. The wind and the dust leads
to a contamination issue on the tyres which means you sometimes
don't get the grip back from a given set. For us it has meant
that the weekend has gone a little less smoothly than in Sepang,
even if we seem to be operating at a similar level of competitiveness.
In the end Jarno did a very good job and we took the place
that we expected despite the problem with the fuel rig just
before Q3. Timo also had the pace for Q3 but he didn't get
his best lap time when it was important in Q2 and given how
tight the midfield is he ended up outside the top ten. At
least this means that we are free to choose his strategy tomorrow.
Otherwise we are looking forward to the race because yesterday
we were consistent on long runs."
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