Saturday September 11th, 1999

McLaren

Mika Hakkinen: "The qualifying session today was one of the most enjoyable for me - my third run was my quickest and it really worked out fantastically. I was a little bit surprised that I was able to bang out that time, but we had made some pretty good changes during the session to help me go faster in the places where I was having a problem and the team did a great job. The start is always a bit tricky, but so long as we get the balance right I think everything is going to be cool."

David Coulthard: "Mika's lap was a pretty special time and even if I had had a clear run I think it would have been difficult to match it. You have good days and bad days and today wasn't so good for me, but I think that we are in pretty good shape for the race. I think that third position is a good place to start from because it is on the racing line and has better grip than the other side."

Ron Dennis: "Mika's lap time showed his commitment once more, his eleventh pole of the season was probably his best qualifying performance of the year. The team helped to improve David and Mika's cars throughout the session. David won two years ago from fourth on the grid, so his third place puts him in a good position for tomorrow's race."

Norbert Haug: "That was an excellent performance from Mika and the whole team. Being almost half a second ahead of the next quickest car really means a lot here in Monza. David has a good position to start from being third. The team is looking forward to the race tomorrow."

Jordan

Heinz-Harald Frentzen: "It is an excellent result to be on the front row of the grid again. I had a feeling earlier today that we could be on pole and I would have liked to get my revenge on Mika after he beat me in Hockenheim - but it wasn't to be. But in any case, the qualifying performance is excellent. The team did a fantastic job to give me the best circumstances to get a good grid position. Our strategy was to do a two lap run but each time the second laps did not work out, either because of yellow flags or because of my own mistake. But we broke the 1.23 bracket which was what we hoped to do. I am looking forward to a good race tomorrow."

Eddie Jordan: "It was an interesting qualifying session. I thought Heinz-Harald had a realistic chance of pole but you can never underestimate the speed of the McLarens. But we split them and are on the front row of the grid, which is a great result. Damon's result was disappoint but he still has the chance to win points tomorrow."

Williams

Alessandro Zanardi: "I am happy, of course and I want to thank the team as everybody worked very hard on the car which really improved throughout the weekend. It's evident. We are very pleased with this performance, especially as we don't have a qualifying engine. Anyway, theoretically we shouldn't suffer for this disadvantage tomorrow, and I hope I will at least maintain this position in the race."

Ralf Schumacher: "I was definitely happy with my car today and in the morning free practice session. I felt it was considerably better than yesterday. Unfortunately, during qualifying, I was slowed down twice by yellow flags and therefore I could not get the best out of the third and especially the fourth runs, when I expected to be much faster. Anyway, the race is tomorrow and I am fairly optimistic that we will finish in a good position, starting from the second and third row."

Ferrari

Mika Salo: "My last lap was a good one, but I had a bit of traffic. When I braked in the second chicane I lost a little bit of downforce behind another car and I went sideways. I might have gained one position on the grid. We still cannot get rid of the understeer. Otherwise the car is good and I think, thanks to the work we did at the test here, I will have a very good race car for tomorrow. We are in better shape today than yesterday and now we must try and make another step forward overnight. At the moment our car is just too slow everywhere, so we must try and come up with a solution before the race."

Eddie Irvine: "The car is a little bit better than yesterday. It is more consistent, but not much quicker. On my last run I was slowed by a yellow flag but it would not have affected my time very much. Basically, we have not made enough progress with the car over the last three or four races. We have some improvements coming for the next race, but we cannot fix the problem overnight. We need to improve the aerodynamics which are so important here. At least the new version of the engine is a good step in the right direction. My best chance in the race is to make a great start. I am aiming to get as many points as possible. In the race, Frentzen could help us by mixing it with our main rivals. The championship is not yet over for us."

Jean Todt: "Obviously I am disappointed with our grid positions. We have one car on the third row and the other on the fourth, while, on the other hand, our main competitors are very well placed. I expected qualifying to be difficult, but I had hoped we could get one car on the second row and the other on the third. Other teams have made significant progress, as we saw already in Hockenheim, which is the second fastest circuit of the championship.

Stewart

Rubens Barrichello: "The car felt a lot more unstable under braking this afternoon which cost me some time. I went straight on at the first chicane on my first run which upset my rhythm. I also experienced more understeer maybe because of the track conditions. I should have been top six or better. The timing was important today because we were not sure whether to go for just one flying lap or put in a couple of runs given that the tyres seemed to improve. We also had to choose our moment carefully because there were so many yellow flags out there."

Johnny Herbert: "I just didn't get the job done in qualifying which is frustrating. It's no good for me or the team to be down in 15th place. I can't honestly say where I lost the time from this morning. The car has felt good on heavy fuel so that's some small comfort for the race. After last week's test I expected to be on the pace this weekend and qualify well. I've got my work cut out for me tomorrow."

Paul Stewart, Stewart-Ford Chief Operating Officer: "Rubens is only three tenths off fourth place but nonetheless this was not a qualifying session to boast about. The track conditions may have changed but it was the same for everyone. Our race strategy is going to very crucial now if we are going to score points."

Martin Whitaker, Director, Ford Racing, Europe: "The mechanics did a great job in changing the engine on Rubens' car between this morning's two practice sessions when it developed a problem at high revs. The quick turnaround allowed Rubens to get out well before the end of the second session and the rest of today has been trouble-free from an engine point of view. Obviously after last week's test we had expected both cars to be higher up the grid."