Text - Panasonic Toyota Racing: British GP - Qualifying

A fully recovered Mika Salo produced his best qualifying performance of the season so far in Silverstone today, putting a TF102 on the fourth row of the grid for the first time. Scottish team-mate Allan McNish hit traffic on his best run and will start from 15th for his home grand prix.

Mika Salo - Car No. 24
Position: 8th, 1m20.995s, 12/12 laps completed
Chassis: TF102/07

"We had a slow morning with only a few laps done and the car was not great. I had a flat battery during qualifying but we sorted that and there were no other major problems. It helped us when the sun came out, and the car works better in hotter conditions. We have a bit of work to do on race set up because I lost both Friday sessions. After a difficult start to the weekend, 8th place is more than good."

Allan McNish - Car No. 25
Position: 15th, 1m21.382s, 11/12 laps completed
Chassis: TF102/08

"The car was better balanced in qualifying than it has been all weekend. We still need some more traction and I lost quite a lot in the last two corners. I got held up by Raikkonen on my best run. He was on his out lap and I lost a lot of time in the first sector, which was disappointing but one of those things."

Gustav Brunner - Chief Designer
"That was a masterpiece of strategy! It was a terrible day yesterday with Mika in bed and the wet weather, but we did not get stressed and fantastic team work made today's result possible. Our "don't get mad, get better" philosophy is clearly working. We are all over the moon, and both Mika and Allan did a sterling job."

Weather: Dry with occasional sunny spells.
Temperatures: Air - Min 15°C, Max 17°C
Track - Min 19°C, Max 25°C
Average humidity - 60%
T-car: TF102/06 set up for Allan McNish

Review: Mika Salo missed free practice on Friday with a stomach infection, but returned to the track this morning. Allan McNish worked solo on Friday propping up the timesheets in 19th spot. He managed 25 laps in Saturday's practice coming 18th overall, with a recovering Salo one place back in 19th after 21 laps.