Mercedes Benz

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Barcelona, Saturday 26th April 2008

Lewis Hamilton MP4-23 04
Heikki Kovalainen MP4-23 03

2008 SPAIN GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen will start Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona from fifth and sixth positions on the grid respectively. In the third part of Saturday's qualifying, Lewis set a time of 1m22.096 whilst Heikki's time was 1m22.231.

LEWIS HAMILTON

“I am actually quite surprised that we are not higher up the grid as the car felt very good, and I put in some strong laps. Throughout qualifying one and two the car felt extremely well balanced, but it’s so close which means that it will be an exciting race tomorrow. Being on the third row is not the end of the world as we are surrounded by good drivers who all want to finish the race. The key is now to make a strong start and hopefully gain a couple of positions, and I am confident as I believe our race pace is competitive, and we have a good strategy.”

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN

“I didn’t expect to be on the third row as I thought the last part of qualifying wasn’t too bad. However the times are very close and with just a tiny bit more I would have been able to gain a few positions, but that is life. We will now dig deep, and tomorrow is another long day where anything can happen. I don’t know if the lack of running yesterday had any influence as the more laps you have the more confident you are – but I don’t think it would have made too much of a difference, and the team has done a great job in getting the car ready and competitive. I believe we should be able to go for it in the race tomorrow.”

RON DENNIS

“Of course we would have preferred to be higher up the grid, but from row three anything can happen. We are well prepared, and I believe our strategy will prove competitive. The race will be interesting as there are a number of drivers capable of winning which is great for the fans, and I am sure that Lewis, Heikki and the entire team will put in strong performances.”

NORBERT HAUG

"Positions five and six are not our dream result and as less than three tenths are missing to pole position we have to wait who of the four or five competitors ahead of us are running how long in the first stint. Both Lewis and Heikki feel confident in the car, our long runs during testing produced consistent lap times, so the aim is to get better positions tomorrow in the race than today in qualifying."
The results of the day

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