Best Qualifying Result of the Year for Fisichella
By Jamie Makin
August 14 2004
Team SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa will start tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix from 8th and 20th positions respectively after this afternoon’s qualifying sessions.
Saturday, Qualifying 1:
| Driver | Chassis | Best Time | Position |
| G. Fisichella | C23-04 | 1:19.668 | 4 |
| F. Massa | C23-01 | 1:19.658 | 3 |
| Spare Car | C23-02 | - | - |
Saturday, Qualifying 2:
| Driver | Chassis | Best Time | Position |
| G. Fisichella | C23-04 | 1:20.324 | 8 |
| F. Massa | C23-01 | No Time | 20 |
| Spare Car | C23-02 | - | - |
Today's qualifying sessions told a story that is becoming all too familiar to the SAUBER PETRONAS team. A strong pre-qualifying result was negated by another 10-grid position penalty for Felipe Massa. The Brazilian put in a dazzling performance in pre-qualifying coming in 3rd place behind only the two Ferraris. As a result of the engine change, the team opted not to send him out for final qualifying and in doing so have saved him fuel and a new set of tyres. Massa will start from the back of the grid and will likely be on the team's successful 2-stop pit strategy in an attempt to move up into a points-paying position.
Massa was clearly frustrated by his latest run of bad luck. "What can I say? Of all the circuits we visit this one, together with Monaco, is the most difficult on which to overtake and therefore the worst on which to have an engine problem that loses you grid positions. It's such a shame because we made a big step forward with the set-up today. The balance was way better. And you know, I made a lot of mistakes on my prequalifying lap, yet still managed to set a good time. It's frustrating because this could be our strongest race of the season, but at least by not going out to qualify I saved a set of tyres and I'll be pushing to make best use of them at the start. My hopes for the race rest almost entirely on how well the opening lap goes for me."
The team's disappointment was tempered by the best qualifying effort of the season by Giancarlo Fisichella. He was able to turn his 4th place spot in pre-qualifying into an 8th place grid position. His prior best this year was 10th place in Monaco and he was poised to be an strong contender for points before he crashed out in the chaos that ensued after Takuma Sato's engine expired. Overtaking at the Hungaroring is almost as difficult as Monaco, so Fisichella stands a good chance of scoring points providing he stays out of trouble. It is likely that the team have selected the more conventional 3-stop strategy for him in light of his quick time.
The team was visibly thrilled on the pit wall when they watched Fisichella's qualifying run and the Roman was equally pleased with his own efforts. "Today was totally opposite to yesterday! We made a big improvement in the balance of the car and it was more consistent as a result so I was more confident in its behaviour. I think maybe the weather conditions also played in our favour a little. It will be difficult to score points tomorrow, but that is of course our target and starting well within the top 10 will certainly help us."
Team Principal Peter Sauber was pleased with both his drivers and the new Bridgestone tyres. "Congratulations to the team for such a strong qualifying performance. First of all I’d like to mention Giancarlo, who did a magnificent job, and Bridgestone, who provided us with a new tyre compound that worked very well here. It’s a real pity that Felipe had an engine failure this morning because otherwise we could have had both drivers in the top 10. Finally, thank you to all the staff at Hinwil, who have been working so diligently recently to make further improvements in the SAUBER PETRONAS C23."
Team SAUBER PETRONAS are now looking very competitive for tomorrow's race despite earlier worries that the track would not suit the C23 well.
Saturday, Free Practice 3:
| Driver | Chassis | Best Time | Position |
| G. Fisichella | C23-04 | 1:22.013 | 13 |
| F. Massa | C23-01 | 1:21.593 | 9 |
| Spare Car | C23-02 | - | - |
Saturday, Free Practice 4:
| Driver | Chassis | Best Time | Position |
| G. Fisichella | C23-04 | 1:21.165 | 14 |
| F. Massa | C23-01 | 1:21.989 | 17 |
| Spare Car | C23-02 | - | - |