Michelin back on pole at Francorchamps

Juan Pablo Montoya will start from pole position for McLaren and for Michelin. It's the 15th pole of the season for Michelin. Michelin drivers dominated the Qualifying session. with Raikkonen and Trulli on 2th and 3th place, the top 3 is again for Michelin.

Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director “It was quite a tense qualifying session, because we felt a few spots of rain just before the final five cars set out to complete their laps – and they were all Michelin runners. Fortunately for them, the conditions didn’t deteriorate and the grid has a fairly conventional look.
The lack of running yesterday obviously hindered our routine, but we were able to do some excellent preparation work this morning and our prime and option tyres showed a good blend of speed and durability. Our partner teams have chosen to use both in tomorrow’s race. It remains to be seen what effect the weather might have during the next 24 hours, but Michelin is prepared for this grand prix with absolute confidence.”

Ron Dennis, McLaren Group Chairman "Preparations have been difficult this weekend, because of the bad weather during yesterday’s practice sessions, but ultimately things worked out for us and I’m delighted to say our Michelin's worked perfectly."

Bridgestone's first driver is Michael Schumacher on a 6th place.
Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager “Not an easy day to decide the race specification today as there isn’t much data available from two, forty-five minute sessions. Fortunately it was dry this morning enabling the teams to do their tyre comparisons but due to yesterday’s rain the track was quite green still. We saw an interesting qualifying this afternoon with Michael setting a reasonably competitive time. He may only have set the seventh fastest time in the end but his second sector was good to see as this is the sector which can indicate grip and the potential of the car and tyres for tomorrow’s race. I expect Rubens will be stronger tomorrow and there is also a high chance of rain for the race in which case I expect all our runners to use the Bridgestone wet tyres to good effect.”

Ross Brawn, Ferrari Technical Director “We’re a little disappointed with the qualifying performance considering our times in the morning sessions. We thought we could have stepped up a bit. The track was a bit slippery though so it was not too bad. We expect Rubens will be able to pick it up tomorrow and we are mindful that it could rain tomorrow.”