| Jenson Button will lead B�A�R Honda�s challenge in the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix after posting the 9th fastest lap in today�s qualifying session. He starts tomorrow�s race from the 5th row of the grid ahead of his team-mate Jacques Villeneuve, who qualified 12th. The scorching heat held throughout the crucial session, the forecast thunderstorms failing to materialise. Both drivers� laps were compromised by errors which cost them a couple of tenths each, but they are pleased with the balance of their respective cars and comfortable with their strategy for tomorrow�s race. �It�s nice to be inside the top 10 but I didn�t think the lap was going to be as quick as it was; I was a little bit disappointed with it at the end," Button said. "The first sector seemed good to me then I made a mistake in each of the last two sectors. I think the time I gained under braking led me to make those mistakes so I guess I was just pushing too hard. This is roughly where we�d expected to be after a difficult morning in which we veered between oversteer and too much understeer before it started to come together. I think we�re running a good fuel load for tomorrow so I�m optimistic.� Jacques Villeneuve spoke about his session. �We�ve improved the car a lot during the weekend and the balance was quite good for qualifying but I made an error in the hairpin and lost some time. Too bad, because the car was a lot better today. I�m a little less worried than I was yesterday but I�m starting from the 6th row of the grid which isn�t going to help but I�m confident for tomorrow having concentrated on race set-up and strategy.� David Richards, Team Principal commented, �A top 10 performance was possible for both drivers but the middle of the grid is so tight that a couple of mistakes can make a big difference. Nonetheless, we are still well-placed for our strategy tomorrow and it will be interesting to see how the race unfolds.� Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director added, "The target for a Saturday afternoon is to qualify to your strategy; to get exactly where you should be for your fuel load. The drivers are reasonably happy with where they�ve finished the session although both made mistakes and feel there was more in the car today. When all the strategies unfold tomorrow we�ll see exactly what the relative performance is.� |