McLaren

Mika Hakkinen: "This is a very technical track with very little opportunity to overtake during the race, so naturally enough I am glad to be starting the race from pole. I put in my quickest lap on my first run. After that I encountered traffic each time I went out and my final run had to be aborted as Johnny Herbert was loosing bits of his car all over the track. It's a shame, as I think that would have been a very quick lap. The car has a good balance and I think we have done some good work this weekend, so tomorrow's race will be very interesting."

David Coulthard: "To be quickest is everyone's ambition but the times today are incredibly close so I think this shows that we have done our homework for this weekend. It will be important to get a good start tomorrow and that said I will be starting from the cleaner part of the circuit, which I believe will be an advantage. Tyres are always an issue here but we have been conserving them all weekend so we don't have a problem regarding that issue. Backmarkers will be one of the key areas in tomorrow's race and strategy as always will play a vital role in the outcome of the race."

Ron Dennis: "The frustrations of the traffic in Hungary are very comparable to Monaco. Whilst Mika's first timed lap was his quickest, as normal he didn't push to the limit, therefore it is a little disappointing for him not to be able achieve his optimum time. David systematically improved his times on each run and the team did a good job finding the brief windows in the traffic that opened up during qualifying. As always the closing minutes were a little scrappy, but all in all we are reasonably happy with the outcome."

Norbert Haug: "A thrilling qualifying with nine cars in one second. Congratulations to Mika for his ninth pole position in eleven races and to David who, being third, has an excellent base for a good race performance."

Ferrari

Eddie Irvine: "I had thought that if I could get pole anywhere it would have been here. All the same, it is good to be on the front row, even if it means I am on the "wrong" side of the track. However, In the past, I have made great starts here from both sides of the track and the start will be everything tomorrow. The side of the track might count for 20% and your technique for 80%. I knew my first run would not be very good, as it was the first time I had run on new tyres, but that means we are in good shape for the race. The only run I really had a problem with was the last one, when Herbert's wing was lying in the track. I am happy to be this close to pole today, because we will be more competitive in the race."

Mika Salo: "I don't know what the problem was because the car felt fine, but the times were even slower than this morning. I was particularly slow in the first section. We will have to check everything on the car as it is not normal that I managed to go quicker on very old tyres this morning. Hopefully we can improve the car for tomorrow so that I can try and do some overtaking in the race. I have to try and finish in the points."

Jean Todt: "Eddie did a great job to qualify on the front row of the grid. It was a disappointing session for Mika Salo, who, on new rubber, was unable to improve on his morning time, set on old tyres. At the moment, we are not sure why. Tomorrow's race will be long and hard and Eddie will be fighting on his own. The start and strategy will determine the final result."

Benetton

Giancarlo Fisichella: Fourth position is a good result but more than anything else I am really happy with the performance of the car. The modifications we made after the Danielson test have helped to cure many of the set-up problems that have troubled us for the first half of the season. Now the car is well balanced and has good grip. I lost a lot of time in the morning session as I had to go to hospital to have a small foreign body removed from my eye. This didn't cause me any problems in qualifying though."

Jordan

Heinz-Harald Frentzen: "I am slightly disappointed with the outcome of the session. We had a problem with the balance on my first run, but my second run was trouble free and the car felt fine. We then made some modifications but had a problem because a gurney flap came off causing a bit of understeer, so I had to wait until my final run and then encountered traffic. I think Herbert and I touched at one point, so it was quite eventful."

Damon Hill: "I think we have done very well because both cars are in the top six, and that means there is a chance of a podium. It is going to be the usual race in Hungary - it will be difficult to overtake, so it will come down to tactics and getting to the finish. I want to get some points and help the team towards its goal of finishing third in the Constructors Championship - that's my objective for tomorrow."

Stewart

Rubens Barrichello: "I was hoping for a top four position today which was realistic given the way the car had been performing. However the car was very nervous and I experienced a lot more understeer this afternoon. I can't really explain it because I was happy with the set-up before qualifying. Strategy is the key here because there are very few overtaking opportunities. There will be a chance to pick up places off the start if you can get enough of a drag, but it's very bumpy into the first corner so it won't be easy. Tyre wear will also be critical."

Johnny Herbert: "I was coming into the last turn about to start my flying lap conscious that Frentzen was on a quick one behind me. I backed off and moved over to give him room but he didn't go for the gap I left. Instead he ran over my front wing which was a bit annoying. My job will be a lot harder staring from 10th on the grid but if the conditions stay as they were today and I can run a clean race I'm hoping for a points finish."

Paul Stewart, Chief Operating Officer: "This was a very frustrating qualifying session - our worst of the season. We certainly expected to do better based on our Free Practice positions. If you look at the time sheets it appears that tyre choice was crucial today."

Martin Whitaker, Director, Ford Racing, Europe: "With both Rubens and Johnny finishing in the top five this morning we had hoped to maintain our pace during qualifying. That we failed to do so will make the race more difficult. After the last few races reliability is top of our list and this will be paramount tomorrow. We experienced no problems with the Series 4 engines during today's running, and both drivers will be using Series 3 engines tomorrow."

Prost

Jarno Trulli: "I started today's sessions with a very competitive car in the free practice and I felt great in the car. I was able to set the third best lap-time this morning and keep it for quite a long time. When, I started the qualifying session I found my car was less competitive and I could not repeat my performance from the morning. We must examine the data to understand the reasons. Finally, as always, the race here will be long and difficult and it will be rewarding to finish."

Williams

Alex Zanardi: "It's evident that our car is not at her best on this circuit. I hope tomorrow it won't rain, otherwise our choice to sacrifice a good qualifying time with this type of tyres in order to have a better race tomorrow, will turn out to be unuseful. We hope we will have a hot race and therefore recuperate some positions."

Ralf Schumacher: "I am very disappointed, of course, about my qualifying. I can't understand what really happened, but the car felt completely different than before. I didn't have any grip and maybe even a damper failed. Whatever it was we have now to find it out. Hopefully, we can sort it out for the race. It's definitely a very poor grid position, last time I qualified that bad was in Magny-Cours, but that was in poor weather conditions. Anyway, I hope that we can do a good job with the Winfield-WilliamsF1 team, even if starting so far behind."

Frank Williams: "It was a qualifying session we would like to forget but there are some lessons we can learn."