Ah, I think I know now where the confusion comes from. Quake usually uses the key left from [1] as console key. This is [`] on the English layout, [²] on the French layout and [^] on the German layout. I checked my config and it says [`], but [^] still works so I think Quake uses the key according to the physical placement on the keyboard and not according to the actual mapping.
You should definitely change the config file to assign your own key, as the physical equivalent to [²],[^],[`] does not exist on the Pandora.