23/07/2004
NEWS STORY
Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard finished in second and 11th respectively in the second practice session for the Mobil 1 German Grand Prix. Both Kimi and David completed a total of eight laps in the first session and 18 in the second. Kimi's fastest time was 1:15.045 and David did 1:16.265.
Kimi Raikkonen: "We completed our planned programme and are pretty happy with how things went. The car is OK and I think we are confident with our tyre choice. It's hot but you don't really feel it when you are in the car. We now have to wait until tomorrow's qualifying and Sunday's race, but so far so good and based on today I think we should be in with a good chance for a very competitive result."
David Coulthard: "During the second practice session I had two high speed spins under braking at turn two which upset our programme a little bit. Whilst the balance of the car is not where I want it to be, my primary goal today was to make the right tyre choice. Tomorrow I will concentrate on the car which I'm sure we will improve throughout the day."
Ron Dennis: "As our tyre choice has now been made, we will now concentrate on optimising the set-up on both cars. Clearly we have pace but we will not know how much until Sunday's race."
Norbert Haug: "A good start to our home grand prix weekend. Kimi was quick and consistent, but on a Friday it's too early to evaluate where we actually are compared to the competition. David is still looking to improve his set-up, which is not what it should be. I'm sure he will be better equipped tomorrow. "