BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX
QUALIFYING
Saturday 3rd April 2004

Nick Heidfeld and Giorgio Pantano set times 15th and 16th quickest in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix tomorrow.  Both drivers found the car’s balance had changed more than expected between practice this morning and qualifying.

QUALIFYING
Nick Heidfeld  15th  1:33.506
Giorgio Pantano  16th 1:34.105

NICK HEIDFELD (EJ14/03) 
“I have qualified 15th which is the same as my qualifying in the previous two races but unfortunately this time as we had to change the engine after free practice yesterday, I have to start ten places further back.  I think we did a reasonable job learning the new circuit and the tyres, despite losing some crucial time yesterday when I missed most of the second practice session due to the engine problem.  The biggest issue for me in qualifying was a cone in the middle of the track at turn 10!  It should have been moved, it cost me time as it forced me to take a different line.”

GIORGIO PANTANO (EJ14/02) 
“I’m not happy really because after yesterday we planned to qualify with a good time and that would put us in a good position for the race.  But today we tried different set-up configurations with the car and it hurt me a lot.  Now we need to understand why it’s changed so much between one day and the next.  I find it very strange because we did good timed laps and found a good car yesterday and today we have not been able to find a balance.”

JAMES ROBINSON
HEAD OF RACE AND TEST ENGINEERING
“Today we experienced another change in the qualifying procedure compared to Malaysia.  Both drivers found a change in balance given the rise in track temperature this afternoon and associated loss of rear grip.  We worked on correcting this for the second run but did not get on top of it quickly enough.  It’s good to see Bridgestone on pole position as they worked very hard to produce tyres for this new track and the conditions here, so all credit to them for that.  This is our first race on our chosen tyre and we are still working to understand how to get the best from them.  We are confident that we have got the car and tyre balance right for tomorrow and are looking forward to the unique challenges of the first ever F1 race at this circuit.”