BULLETIN No 2

SATURDAY 13/04/02 - FREE PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING

WEATHER CONDITIONS: BRIGHT AND SUNNY AFTER EARLY RAIN SUBSIDED (TRACK 24/26�C/AIR 18�C)

2001 POLE POSITION: David COULTHARD (McAREN) 1min23.054sec.

2001 RACE FASTEST LAP: Ralf SCHUMACHER (WILLIAMS), 1min25.524sec.

Michael Schumacher piped Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello to pole position here at Imola at the end of a busy qualifying session during which getting a clear lap in heavy traffic was the main priority of the majority of competitors. Tomorrow Schumacher equals Gerhard Berger's all-time record of Ferrari race starts when he contests his 96^th race for the team.

SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO (1^st M. Schumacher/2^nd Barrichello)

Technical: No changes to car specification but Barrichello took spare F2002 after worries about the engine in his race car.

Sporting: Schumacher took pole on his final run which he admitted was his best, having made slight mistakes on his previous one. Barrichello managed to save one set of tyres from the session and had his last run slightly spoiled when a car in front of him kicked up dust onto the circuit at turn 14.

Quotes: Schumacher: "The gap to Rubens is so small that I'm unable to put my finger on where I managed to pick up the time."

BMW WILLIAMSF1 TEAM (3^rd R. Schumacher/4^th Montoya)

Technical: No changes to the car specification today.

Sporting: Ralf confessed to making a slight mistake at turn five on his last lap, but was otherwise quite satisfied with his car's performance. Montoya reported a touch too much understeer.

Quotes: Schumacher: "Last year I managed to win from third place on the grid, so why not tomorrow?"

WEST McLAREN MERCEDES (5^th Raikkonen/6^th Coulthard)

Technical: No major changes to car set-up for today.

Sporting: Coulthard late out, not starting the session until 13.23 after his car needed an engine change. Thereafter struggled to find a clear track while Raikkonen had a quick spin out of Rivazza, but restarted.

Quotes: Coulthard:"I was unable to extract the best time from the tyres and couldn't improve my time from the morning practice to the same extent as the competition."

SAUBER PETRONAS (7^th Heidfeld/11^th Massa)

Technical: No technical changes to the C21s for today.

Sporting: Heidfeld very happy indeed with seventh place on the grid and felt he might have gone even quicker if he hadn't dropped a wheel off on his best lap. Massa lost a lot of time this morning with an hydraulic problem and didn't find the best handling balance for qualifying.

Quotes: Massa; "I was also struggling with oversteer in the fastest corners and under braking."

MILD SEVEN RENAULT F1 TEAM (8^th Trulli/9^th Button)

Technical: No technical changes to the cars for today.

Sporting: Trulli quite happy with his qualifying efforts but reported he had traffic on every lap. Button said the car was not so bad and he worked very hard on honing its set-up only to make a small mistake on his last run.

Quotes: Denis Chevrier: "We didn't have any problems whatsoever in qualifying with the engine, which is a reason to be pleased given the difference in weather conditions from the first races of the season."

LUCKY STRIKE BAR HONDA (10^th Villeneuve/12^th Panis)

Technical: No technical changes to the cars for today.

Sporting: Villeneuve was very happy with his BAR004 today and really enjoyed his session. Panis unfortunately suffered from lack of grip and too much understeer, particularly in the third sector of the lap.

Quotes: David Richards: "We are progressing step-by-step and the drivers have both done a good job."

ORANGE ARROWS (13^th Frentzen/20^th Bernoldi)

Technical: No technical changes to the cars for today.

Sporting: Frentzen very satisfied although the handling balance was still not ideal, but the car was particularly good in race trim. Bernoldi suffered an engine failure and had to switch to the spare A23 and also lost one set of tyres as a result.

Quotes: Mike Coughlan: "Heinz-Harald did a good job today, however we fell we should be in the top twelve, hence the disappointment."

DHL JORDAN HONDA (14^th Sato/15^th Fisichella)

Technical: No changes to car specification for today.

Sporting: Fisichella suffered an hydraulic failure after one run in his EJ-12 after which he switched to the spare car which did not have as good a set-up. Sato admitted he was disappointed with 14^th on the grid.

Quotes: Sato: "I think I got the most out of the car. The new engine is better at the top end and has better torque."

PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING (16^th Salo/17^th McNish)

Technical: No changes to the car specification for today.

Sporting: McNish said he was glad to see the sun again today while Sato reported that his TF102 did not have much grip and certainly didn't like riding the kerbs here at Imola.

Quotes: McNish: "This is a very demanding track on which you really have to work hard to get a time."

JAGUAR RACING (18^th Irvine/21^st de la Rosa)

Technical: No changes to the car specification for today.

Sporting: Lack of aerodynamic downforce prevented either R3 from generating the tyre temperatures required in these conditions.

Quotes: Irvine: "There is nothing I can do to make this car generate a good fast lap. It's got the potential, yes, but for some reason we cannot make it handle properly. There's very little left to add right now."

KL MINARDI ASIATECH (19^th Webber/22^nd Yoong)

Technical: No changes to the car specification for today.

Sporting: Webber used the spare car after an engine problem and was very satisfied with his best lap, but Yoong failed to make the 107 per cent cut.

Quotes: Yoong: "We did not have a good set-up and I was unable to improve."