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2004 Belgian GP
Team Quotes - Friday 27 August
Jean Todt: It is a pleasure to be back at this circuit, which is probably the most interesting on the current Formula 1 calendar. It is even better being here having already won a sixth consecutive Constructors' title, along with knowing that one of our drivers will win the Drivers' Championship for Ferrari for a fifth time in a row. As usual on a Friday, our work was aimed at the race, as we tried to fine tune the car settings as well as evaluating the two types of tyre at our disposal. At the moment, it is hard to work out the relative strengths of the teams because of the unknown regarding fuel loads and tyre choice of the other teams. I think we will see a very closely contested weekend.
Ross Brawn: The circuit has changed a bit since we last had a Belgian Grand Prix. The “Bus Stop” has become a chicane like any other on the championship trail and much of the track has been resurfaced. We still have to find the ideal balance for our car, but I feel that in the second session we put together a pretty encouraging string of laps with performance that was quite good, but above all consistent. The choice of which Bridgestone tyre to use looks pretty clear. Now we have to find the best set-up for the cars and then we should be okay. The weather forecast for tomorrow is not good, but I think the car-engine-Bridgestone tyre package can also be competitive in the wet.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): We have had a reasonable day today. We had no mechanical problems and worked through all of our programme on tyres and brakes. The choice for the tyre compound is going to be difficult. That is what we will have to look at tonight. The rain held off today but it looks like it could be wet tomorrow morning. In any case, it is challenging to find the balance between high speed and low speed set-up here in Spa.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): It is really nice to see the Formula One cars back here on this beautiful circuit. We have had a proper first day of practice, with the usual focus on set-up and tyre evaluation. Both drivers achieved progress in both areas. Antonio has gave a good performance, given it is his first time running in an F1 car here. Engine power is especially required for the Raidillon and Blanchimont sections.
Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen finished today’s two free practice sessions for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix fastest overall with a time of 1:44.701 having completed a total of 14 laps. Team mate David Coulthard finished sixth fastest with a time of 1:45.507.
Ron Dennis: An uneventful practice session.
Norbert Haug: We have found a good basis in today’s free practice. We have gathered valuable data considering the fact that it is most likely to rain tomorrow.
The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team completed a typically solid opening day during the first free practice sessions for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix. With rain forecast for tomorrow which may limit dry running in practice, the team's objective was to complete plenty of laps and get a firm direction on car set-up with respect to the race. Both drivers completed thirty laps - two thirds race distance - with Fernando Alonso the happier of the two, after Jarno Trulli was slowed by inconsistent handling which prevented him feeling fully confident with the car.
Lucky Strike BAR Honda drivers Jenson Button, Takuma Sato and third driver Anthony Davidson were delighted to be back on track in Spa today as Formula One made a much-welcomed return to the Ardennes forest and a track that ranks as the favourite for many of the current drivers.
Anthony's day got off to another blistering start when he posted the fastest time of the morning session, ahead of the Ferraris. His running was cut short by an oil leak but he was able to maintain his 0.3 seconds advantage over Schumacher nonetheless. Jenson and Takuma conducted less running in the morning waiting for the damp circuit to dry and the marbles to clear. They ended the session 11th and 13th.
Their three BAR Honda 006s were in fighting form for the second session, with Jenson, Anthony and Takuma securing 2nd, 4th and 5th places respectively.
David Richards, Team Principal: "An extremely encouraging start to the weekend, with all three drivers doing an excellent job. However, the weather at Spa is notoriously fickle, and whilst we have proven how fast we are in the dry, there is a strong possibility that we are going to be tested in wet conditions during tomorrow's Qualifying."
Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director: "We are generally pleased with the way our Belgian Grand Prix weekend has started. We have achieved our set programme and have encountered only one problem, which was a change to the T-car engine after Anthony's morning session was cut short by an oil leak. Otherwise we seem to be performing as expected. It's good to be back at Spa and we are looking forward to a positive weekend ahead."
Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development: "A fairly routine Friday for us. The car looks to be competitive as all three drivers have been quick at different times during the sessions today. Let's see what the weather brings tomorrow."
SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella finished 11th and 12th respectively after today's first practice sessions for the Belgian Grand Prix.
Peter Sauber (Team Principal): "After our one-year absence from Spa-Francorchamps we concentrated on tyre choice and long runs for race preparation, and I am pleased with the work that we did and with the result. We are looking strong for the race."
Dr Mark Gillan - Head of Vehicle Performance: Today has been a good productive day all round for the team. We sent our drivers out this morning with a very comprehensive programme to work through and they not only worked to it but they all finished in the top eight in the time-sheet. Bjorn was focusing today on engine endurance work and tyre performances. We now have lots of tyre information for the weekend that will help us immensely. Both Mark and Christian did some good laps while working on their race analysis and tyre preparation over both sessions. As we expected the track was quite green today but this has improved and will continue to do so. The reliability of the cars today continues to be good, the R5 seems to be well-balanced and I feel that we are well prepared for the weekend. Our focus is now on qualifying and the race on Sunday which given the changeable weather could be exciting.
Mike Gascoyne - Technical Director Chassis: "An eventful first day for Panasonic Toyota Racing. Most importantly, Ryan is fine following his accident. He was taken to hospital for a precautionary scan on his arm, but everything appears okay. We saw from the data once we got the car back that his car had picked up a tyre puncture, which caused him to spin. It was unfortunate because Ryan had been running particularly well and consistently throughout the day. We had no problems on the other two cars and we were able to make the tyre choice very early. After that, we concentrated on getting a good set-up for the race on Sunday. We are very pleased with the work carried out and we are confident for the weekend. We just have to see what the weather will do."
James Robinson: It was a normal Friday free practice day with no technical trouble or incident for Jordan, and made more lively by being at Spa. It's a fantastic circuit and seeing the guys out there taking on the challenge of this track was great. As usual we worked hard on our practice homework looking at tyres for the rest of the weekend. The decision will probably be based on what the weather will do on Sunday so we will study the tyre data and weather forecast very carefully.
Today's opening practice sessions for the Belgian Grand Prix saw Minardi Cosworth drivers, Gianmaria Bruni and Zsolt Baumgartner, plus Friday test driver, Bas Leinders, all having their first experience of F1 performance around this legendary 6.973-km circuit, located deep in the Ardennes forests. Initially reporting that the track surface was lacking in grip and dirty off the racing line, all three drivers concentrated on adjusting the chassis balance of their cars to cope with Spa's high-speed swoops and dips. At the conclusion of the second of Friday's two one-hour sessions, it was Baumgartner who had set the fastest time of the Minardi drivers, recording an impressive lap of 1 min 48.687 secs. Leinders, with his “local knowledge” of the Belgian track, and Bruni also produced solid lap times, indicating the team had made good progress in terms of its preparations for what should be an exciting, and possibly unpredictable race on Sunday afternoon.
Paul Stoddart, Team Principal: This has to be one of the best Friday performances for Minardi in many a Grand Prix weekend. I was particularly pleased for Bas at his 'home' Grand Prix, who finished a very credible P21 in the first session, while Zsolt's performance in the second session, which saw him ahead of all three Jordans, as well as his two team mates, was exceptional. All three drivers produced commendably consistent lap times today, and we'd like to extend our thanks to Cosworth, for the fantastic engines, and to Bridgestone, for some great tyres.
Hisao Suganuma, Bridgestone Motorsport Technical Manager: The track was quite green this morning but as usual the track developed with time and by the second practice session, we were able to see the true performance of the tyres and make our comparisons between the specifications. Because of the nature of this demanding circuit we will be looking carefully this evening at the tyres and the data from the sessions, especially as heat durability can be a factor. It doesn't look as if the resurfacing work has altered things too much and it looks as if our estimations were in the right direction. At this stage, however, all the specifications have positive attributes so it is a case of choosing the right tyres in conjunction with our teams for the forecast conditions.
Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: We did some long runs in the second session this afternoon and we haven't quite got the car balanced yet not having been here last year. The Bridgestone tyre choice is quite clear: it looks consistent and with a bit of tuning to the car we should be in good shape. We'd like to make some changes tonight and if it's wet tomorrow then we will live with what we have.
Kimi Räikkönen (Team McLaren Mercedes/Michelin) set fastest time during the opening day of free practice at the Belgian Grand Prix, which is returning to the Formula One calendar for the first time since 2002. The Finn lapped the revised, 6.973km circuit - a favourite with drivers and fans alike - in 1m 44.701s during the second of two sessions, 0.314s clear of fellow Michelin runner Jenson Button (B·A·R-Honda). B·A·R reserve driver Anthony Davidson's table-topping time from the morning gave Michelin a top-three clean sweep on aggregate.
With less than one second covering the top ten, Michelin drivers Takuma Sato (B·A·R-Honda, fifth), David Coulthard (Team McLaren Mercedes, sixth), Antonio Pizzonia (BMW WilliamsF1 Team, seventh), Fernando Alonso (Renault, ninth) and Juan Pablo Montoya (BMW WilliamsF1 Team, 10th) were also in touch.
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director: "We have gleaned lots of valuable data about all three of the dry-weather compounds we have available and that has given us an excellent foundation on which to build for the balance of the weekend.
"When preparing for this race, we incorporated lots of the lessons learned during our recent victory in the Spa 24 Hours at this same circuit. This weekend, as far as Formula One is concerned, the challenge for our six partner teams' engineers is to strike the right balance between downforce for the second sector and top-end speed."
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