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2004 Brazil GP
Team Quotes - Friday 22 October
Jean Todt: It feels a bit strange being here in Interlagos at the end of the season, rather than in the early stages of the championship as in the past. This is the first day of the final race weekend of what has been an extraordinary year for Ferrari. As usual on Friday, we worked on defining the best set-up for the car and on evaluating the two types of Bridgestone tyre at our disposal. From what we have seen so far, once again, the Japanese company has done a great job. Over the two hours of practice, the track condition improved with every passing car. The times look very close which leads one to believe that both qualifying and the race will produce a close fight.
Ross Brawn: Two very good sessions for us, although the car was not so well balanced at the start of the morning. Then, as the track cleaned up and the engineers made some adjustments, the car improved and now seems very good. We evaluated both types of tyre and I think it will be a close decision between them. The tyres seem very consistent and the drivers are happy with their cars. If we can make a bit more progress tomorrow, we should be in good shape for the race.
On the last Friday of this year’s F1 season Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya had two troublefree practice sessions for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): It was a normal Friday with our time spent on evaluating tyres and working on the set-up. Since we have not been to Brazil for a long time and the cars and tyres have evolved a lot we have more work to do here than perhaps on some other Fridays. The high altitude here means everybody is down on power but also on drag.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): It was a good practice day. Both the drivers completed their programmes methodically and without any problems. It is obviously not easy to find the ideal set- up on such a bumpy circuit. Regardless, we should have collected enough data to meet our tyre choice and both the engines ran without problems.
West McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen emerged third after today's two
free practice sessions for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos
after setting a time of 1:11.526. Team mate David Coulthard was 15th with a
time of 1:12.430.
Ron Dennis: "A trouble free start to the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend. Both drivers
completed their pre-planned programme and we are now looking forward to the
last race of the 2004 season."
Norbert Haug: "A productive free practice with good and consistent times by Kimi in race
trim. We now have to make sure to continue on this performance level during
the rest of the weekend when it counts."
The Mild Seven Renault F1 Team completed a solid Friday programme at the Brazilian Interlagos circuit today, during the opening day of practice for the final race of the 2004 season. As usual, the day's work consisted of tyre evaluation and initial work on the set-up of the R24. Track conditions improved throughout the day, meaning it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions about ultimate performance between the different teams. However, both Renault drivers are pleased with the progress they made during the two practice sessions.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: "We experienced a good opening day with both cars. As usual in Brazil, the conditions improved all the way through the day and this is a factor we must take into account when analysing our data this evening. However, we made some changes to the car which seemed effective and we are definitely well prepared for Sunday."
Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Operations: "It was a perfectly normal Friday for the team: we experienced no problems and made good progress with the different programmes we had planned. The circuit here in Brazil is well known as being very bumpy and this is a factor we must take into account when configuring the engine to avoid over-revving. It is difficult to make any certain statements about how quick we are relative to the competition owing to the changing circuit conditions during the day. However, from our point of view, we are confident that we have completed a solid day's work and will now wait to see how that translates on the timesheets tomorrow."
The build-up to the final race of the 2004 season got underway in Sao Paulo today with the first free practice sessions for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix. The championship may well have been decided but BAR's objective today was to achieve the best possible start to the race it hopes will secure the team 2nd place in the Constructors' standings.
As usual, Anthony Davidson conducted most of the running this morning, completing 22 laps to achieve the 5th fastest time. Takuma Sato finished 8th and Jenson Button ended the session 14th.
This afternoon, the drivers achieved their full programme of tyre selection and set-up work, with Jenson, Anthony and Takuma securing the 4th, 5th and 6th fastest times respectively, separated by just three tenths.
David Richards, Team Principal: "I'm very pleased with the start that we've made to this important weekend and it's good to see all three of our drivers side by side in the top six and looking so strong. It is particularly pleasing that Anthony has ended his contribution to the season on a high note, yet again performing well at a circuit he has never experienced before. He has played a crucial part in our race development this year and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his unfailing focus and determination. As for the rest of this weekend, I'm confident that we have made a good first step towards achieving our objectives for the season finale."
Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director: "Our last three-car Friday of the season has gone well and with all three cars completing their programmes we have good information on which to base our tyre decision for tomorrow morning. Despite the recent resurfacing, the track is as bumpy as ever and the track took a long time to clean up. We look to have a competitive pace today so we have a good basis to work with tomorrow with which to determine our race set-up."
Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development: "A solid day - to have all three drivers in the top six is good. The times are very close once again so we will need strong performances from Jenson and Takuma tomorrow. I would like to thank Anthony as he has done a great job for us all year in the Friday sessions. I am pleased that he has shown once again how fast he can be, particularly at a track he has never visited."
SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella finished
eighth and 17th respectively after today's first practice sessions for the
Brazilian Grand Prix in Interlagos.
Peter Sauber (Team Principal): "Another normal Friday test, except that this
one was the 18th of the season! I am confident that we have found a good
race set-up and that we have made the right tyre choice."
Jaguar Racing enjoyed dry track conditions today during their two Friday practice sessions at the Interlagos Circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Teammates Mark Webber, Christian Klien and Bjorn Wirdheim completed comprehensive test programmes and together generated important data from nearly 100 laps. The R5 was reliable throughout the two sessions allowing the team to complete their tyre choice successfully ahead of tomorrow's qualifying. The team will be continuing to fine-tune the car this evening in preparation for qualifying tomorrow and with the goal of securing a points challenging place on the grid.
Dr Mark Gillan - Head of Vehicle Performance: We have enjoyed a good day here today at the Interlagos circuit with the three drivers completing successful test programmes and generating nearly 100 laps between them. They have been working on everything from tyre comparisons, brakes, engine developments, circuit familiarisation and many other things. The car has been very reliable and that is thanks to the thorough preparation work that has been carried out both here and at the factory in Milton Keynes. We are now looking forward to the rest of the weekend and we will be doing what we can to ensure a good qualifying position and of course ideally a points finish.
Mike Gascoyne - Technical Director Chassis: "We enjoyed two productive sessions, totaling in excess of 150 laps with all three cars. The only real problem we encountered was the amount of traffic, but that is normal at a short circuit like Interlagos. Ryan did his usual Friday programme of long runs to compare the tyres, followed by some shorter runs for performance evaluation and overall, the cars have looked very consistent. We have to look carefully at the data to prepare well for qualifying and the race. The lap times are very close, so a few tenths-of-a-second can make a huge difference to the final position. All in all, I think we can be confident of a strong race weekend."
James Robinson: It was a normal free practice Friday for us. Today's focus was totally on tyres as it was very important to look at both Bridgestone compounds, taking into consideration conditions for today and tomorrow as well as the threat of rain on Sunday. As always, we are going to study the data very carefully tonight in order to know which one to choose for the rest of the weekend. We had no technical problems with the car and it was a productive day for the drivers with Robert doing a very good lap time on lower fuel at the end of the session. Unfortunately Timo had a radio problem causing him to back off in the second sector during his last run on fresh tyres, so he couldn't maximise his potential. Nick did a solid run and it's good to see that yet again we are closer to the front cars with only nine tenths of a second between us and P8.
Paul Stoddart, Team Principal: It has been a positive start for Minardi to the final Grand Prix weekend of the season, and it was particularly pleasing that Gimmi's quickest lap saw him ahead of a Jordan and two Jaguars. Just to put things in perspective, it is worth noting that his best lap, of 1 min 13.467 secs, was almost four-tenths of a second quicker than last year's pole position time. Zsolt also ran solidly in both sessions and, in the end, was only a couple of tenths slower than his team mate. Special mention today, however, must go to our test driver, Bas Leinders, who had his last run in that role with the team today. Despite a small hydraulic problem in the first session that cost him some running time, he did his usual exemplary job for us. It has been a pleasure to have Bas with us, and we would like to thank him for his fantastic efforts this year. He has made a really significant contribution to the Minardi programme in 2004, and we wish him every success in his quest to become a full-time F1 driver next season.
Hisao Suganuma, Bridgestone Motorsport Technical Manager: The track was very green this morning which is why we saw some graining on the tyres, particularly the softer specs. But as the track rubbered in this afternoon, the graining reduced substantially, revealing the true performance of the Bridgestone tyres. I expect the Bridgestone runners to be strong this weekend. If you look not just at the two Ferrari cars, but also the Sauber cars, you can see the competitive nature of the specifications we have brought here this weekend. Noticeably, the Minardi cars, too, were running well, with Gimmi Bruni setting a time just over two seconds off Rubens Barrichello's pace. I was impressed also with the work Robert Doornbos put in today. All in all, first indications are looking good.
Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: We had two good sessions today. The car wasn't balanced first thing this morning but as the track cleaned up and once the engineers made a few adjustments, the car seems very good. We tried both specifications of Bridgestone tyres and think it will be a close decision between the two types, both of which are consistent. If we can make more progress tomorrow we should be in good shape for the race.
The FIA has announced a raft of F1 rule changes for 2005. A number of aerodynamic modifications will be enforced - including raised front wings - in an effort to reduce downforce. During each race weekend, drivers will be allowed to use a single set of tyres for qualifying and the race and must stick with the same engine for two grands prix at a time. From 2006, teams will be obliged to use 2.4-litre V8 engines, although the smaller, independent teams may continue to use the existing 3.0 V10s subject to the imposition of a rev limit that has yet to be defined.
Ryan Briscoe (Toyota/Michelin) was second fastest in the morning's opening free practice session - the best performance of the young Australian test driver's F1 career to date. He was also the only Toyota driver not to spin during that session: Jarno Trulli and Ricardo Zonta lost control at Turns Eight and Four respectively, but neither incurred any damage.
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director: "Lap times are significantly quicker than they were during qualifying for last season's corresponding, but I suspect fuel loads have played at least a part in that. We won't be able to draw a realistic comparison until tomorrow. It is certainly true that track conditions are different this year, though. That has more to do with the resurfacing work that has taken place than the fact we are running at a different time of the year. The new parts of the circuit have evolved significantly today and I'm sure they will continue to do so throughout the weekend. There is also a strong chance that rain could further complicate matters on Sunday."
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