23/07/2004
NEWS STORY
On the first day of the German Grand Prix weekend, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team put in a good performance with drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Antonio Pizzonia setting the 3rd and 5th fastest times respectively in today's Free Practice session. The twenty-three year old Brazilian is standing in for the convalescing Ralf Schumacher, and has replaced Marc Gené who raced in the French and British Grands Prix. Ralf will visit the team in Hockenheim tomorrow after five weeks of absence from the F1 paddock.
Juan Pablo Montoya: It was a good day. I had some small problems in the morning but the afternoon session was a lot better. The car was much more stable than usual but I made a mistake when I went out on my first set of new tyres and I could not take advantage of them. We managed to do a couple of good long runs so I believe we are looking pretty good for the rest of the weekend.
Antonio Pizzonia: We had two productive sessions today. As it was the first time I've driven at Hockenheim in a Formula One car, I spent most of the time getting to know the secrets of the track, and how the FW26 behaves around this circuit. When I raced here in F3000 I really liked the circuit and once I finished in first - on the old circuit, which is a good omen. We will have to wait and see what qualifying will bring tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to a good session. It's good to be racing again and I must say thanks to the team for having offered me this great opportunity.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): We have had a productive first day with both drivers working through our normal race set- up and tyre evaluations, neither driver suffered mechanical problems. Normally it is difficult to change race drivers but Antonio has adapted quickly and did a good job on his first day. Once again, we have brought some new aerodynamic and suspension parts to this race and they are working well here.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): We have had two good sessions today, with Juan and Antonio running through their set- up programme as scheduled. Antonio got along well with the car from his very first lap here. Friday's lap times do not mean much usually, but I have to say it looks like four to five teams are very close together here.