Mclaren

Mika Hakkinen: "I think the reason that I'm sitting on pole position is because the engineers did a great job to finally achieve the balance in the car that I wanted. David had been much quicker than I was this morning and that is one of the good things about having David as a team mate, we work together and because of this, we were able to find a set up which enabled me to take pole position today. It was a very challenging qualifying as indeed the whole season has been, the times are very close, the cars are very competitive and it will be an exciting race tomorrow."

David Coulthard: "I was quickest on my second run, as on the last two runs I picked up some understeer. I had originally dialled this into the car as I had been experiencing oversteer in the first two runs, but we went too far and then we ran out of time to return to the original set up. But I am quite pleased to be starting on the clean side of the track and I am looking forward to the race."

Ron Dennis: "Statistics aren't so important but it was nice for Mika to add another pole position to his previous total. That said it was not the smoothest of sessions for us as we did not extract the best from the cars. However, both the drivers and the team did a great job and considering the difficulties we encountered we are pleased with the result."

Norbert Haug: "Five poles in a row for Mika is an excellent achievement. Pole today was hard fought and I am sure the team will find an even better set up for tomorrow."

Ferrari

Eddie Irvine: "I am very happy to be on the front row of the grid. It is fantastic. The car has been well balanced all the weekend. Losing half an hour this morning might have cost me pole. We could make the car quick in the first section or quick in the final one, but we could not put a whole lap together. Also, on my best lap, I made a mistake in the middle section. I did all my runs early as I felt the track was getting slower. My strategy for the race? Pull away from everyone at the start and win!"

Michael Schumacher: "My car was very well balanced in the morning, but for reasons which we must now investigate, it was not as good in qualifying. No matter what we tried, the lap times stayed pretty much the same. Now we must look at our data to get the car right for the race. Before this weekend, I would not have believed that we could be less than two tenths off the pole time. So I am quite optimistic that I can have a good race. Eddie found the better set-up today and did a very good job."

Jean Todt: "We saw a great qualifying battle today. Eddie did a very good job, while Michael was unable to set up the car to his liking and had too much understeer. Tomorrow's race will be very tough and strategy will play an even more important role than usual."

Sauber

Jean Alesi: "I feel fantastic. This morning the car was the best it has been all season, but this one of those circuits where it's really easy to go in the wrong direction. We knew the car felt balanced on a knife-edge then, and that even a small change the wrong way could destroy its efficiency, so instead of innovating like some others, we just made tiny steps for qualifying and tuned it by millimeters, and it paid off. For sure, the car is better with the new understray and it was fabulous to be fastest for so long. I knew that could not last, but to be fifth on the grid is a dream."

Peter Sauber: "Congratulations to Jean for his impressive performance, and thanks also to the mechanics and engineers for this team effort. Last but not least, my compliments to the engine specialists who prepare the Sauber Petronas V10s. Pedro's time is also impressive and shows that Jean's was not a fluke."

Bar

Jaques Villeneuve: "I'm happy with my times, in spite of 45 minutes lost this morning because of a small fuel problem. That was a pity because the car is fast and I think we could have been closer to the front with a bit more running time. This afternoon I went wide at Turn Two during my second run which was unfortunate, but I don't think it cost me too much time. Overall, the car and the team are working well, the engine is fine and I can't see why it should not continue. Tomorrow I am confident that we're going to be fast in the race, now let's hope we can make it to the chequered flag!"

Mika Salo: "I'm a little disappointed as this morning my best time was quicker, good enough for tenth position on the grid. We had been fairly happy with the car's balance, but of course as the track heated up this afternoon we had to make more changes, which upset the rhythm. The overall balance of the car is good though, and I shall be pushing hard in the race to make up places."

Craig Pollock: "We have mixed feelings as we know both drivers could have been better placed for the race. Mika's best time from this afternoon was taken away because of the yellow flag infringement, and Jacques made a mistake on his fastest lap and lost position. So, not a perfect day for us, but overall I am very happy with the way the team are working together, and now we must keep our fingers crossed. The performance is there and reliability is all we need for a good result in tomorrow's race."

Stewart

Rubens Barrichello: "There was quite a lot happening for me during the session so I'm reasonably happy with seventh position on the grid. I switched to the spare car for my second run due to a vibration but because the car is set up for Johnny, I had difficulty adjusting to the throttle pedal. I went back to my race car after one lap and just had to give it all I could to move up the time sheets. The crew did a fantastic job switching me from car to car. I'm satisfied with my tyre choice and I expect to run a strong race so another points finish is not out of the question at all."

Johnny Herbert: "I felt I had made a big improvement from yesterday and felt comfortable with the car during qualifying so I was disappointed not to have finished higher up the grid. I guess it was a case of not getting my sector times quite right for the whole lap. I also caught yellow flags on my last flying lap when one of the Benettons had a problem which didn't help my chances of improving. I've made it difficult for myself in the race starting from where I am. What I have to focus on now is to run reliably and hope that my race strategy works out because the times are very close."

Paul Stewart: "All things considered the whole team did a great job today. Rubens and the crew held it together amid the confusion in the garage over car choice. We were perhaps expecting a better performance in qualifying given the pace we were setting during recent tests in Barcelona. We were hoping that our testing performance would translate into quicker qualifying times today but it didn't turn out that way. The unusual track conditions yesterday hampered our efforts to be in optimum shape for qualifying. Johnny was poised for a better qualifying effort but was held up by yellow flags at the start of his last quick lap"

Jordan

Heinz Harald Frentzen:"Eighth place on the grid does not look so good and it is not where I wanted to be. But if you look more closely you realise that several of the drivers ahead of us were at an advantage as they were running on tyres which worked very well in the today’s qualifying conditions. They may not have this advantage tomorrow, but we will have to wait and see. If it is hot like today, it could be good for us."

Damon Hill: "We will have a great deal of work to do tomorrow to make up the places we lost today, but we will be running at an advantage in the race so it is possible to finish in the points."

Eddie Jordan: "These qualifying positions do not look great and after the good performances of yesterday we had hoped to start the race nearer the starting line. But we made a tactical decision which we hope will see us come good tomorrow. Race strategy will be crucial and, if our track record so far this season is anything to go by, we should be able to make up the places."

Williams

Ralf Schumacher: "I was only tenth, today, even though I am sure that we have taken the best out of the car. There's nothing more that we can do at present, but I hope that in tomorrow's race - where I know I can usually perform my best - I can get a good result. I feel confident that I can gain a good place and even score one or two points."

Alex Zanardi: "Well, it has been quite a disastrous day. We had problems with the car, which reacted incomprehensibly to every set up modification. I am disappointed, of course, but I know that getting angry is for sure not the right way to solve the problems. Anyway, there are definitely some problems to be solved and we have to work hard."

Patrick Head: "In qualifying that's about our level at the moment and we won't improve that unless we can improve the car. We have got some developments coming through that we expect to help the car but at the moment all we can do is do a good race preparation job and try to make sure we get two finishes tomorrow."

Benneton

Giancarlo Fisichella: "Obviously, we are not at all happy with 13th and 18th place. We were still struggling with grip and understeer and although we tried a few different things we didn't seem to move in the right direction. On my last run the balance was a lot better but there was still understeer on the fast corners and low grip on the slow ones."

Alexander Wurz: "This was a terrible session. We couldn't find the correct balance and still lacked grip and the changes we made didn't improve on the set-up. As I was coming into the pits I heard a problem in the gearbox and as it was the end of qualifying anyway I thought it better to stop on the circuit"

Pat Symonds: "We had to chase the balance of the car as both the track temperature and the wind came up during the afternoon. We tried a lot of changes, but never really got to grips with the car. Having said that it was a very close qualifying and 3 hundredths of a second would have moved Giancarlo up three places. Nevertheless it is going to be a difficult race tomorrow and there is a lot of work to do."

Arrows

Pedro de la Rosa: " I am pretty happy with my result, but as I’ve said before, we are too far away from the top running cars and although we have improved comparatively, the others are faster still. I am realistic about my chances at tomorrow’s race and it is my only desire to drive the car across the finishing line."

Toranosuke Takagi: " The Team did a great job in getting the engine changed before qualifying, it enabled me to attack exactly as planned. There is a gap between Pedro and me, but I think this is all down to the choice of tyres. I am fairly happy with today’s results and look forward to tomorrow’s race."

Tom Walkinshaw: " Our engine failure during the morning’s practice was unfortunate, however congratulations go to the Team for getting Tora’s car ready in time for qualifying. We are hopeful for a two-car finish tomorrow, which I am sure would be extra special for Pedro."

Minardi

Marc Gene: "After the first two runs the car was not bad, we did some modifications and I tried to go faster but in the end the strong wind influenced remarquably my car's behaviour. In fact, while I was doing the last run, I pushed harder but at the corner I went large. However, I feel satisfied with the good job I did with my crew and with my race engineer so far. "

Luca Badoer: "I am a little bit disappointed, indeed I expected something more from this session. I think that the lack of aerodynamic downforce is our main concern now. In addition to this, the conditions of the track here are very changeable, thus making it difficult to detect the right run."

Cesare Fiorio: "The track is definitely changed in comparison with its conditions during last week tests. Today it required a lot more aerodynamic downforce and this is unfortunately our car's weak spot. A part from that, we managed to sort out some problems concerning the M01 reliability which is now sensibly improved."