24/09/2004
NEWS STORY
West McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard finished today's second practice session in third and fourth place after setting times of 1:34.289 and 1:34.362 respectively. Kimi completed 21 laps and David did 20.
Kimi Raikkonen: "We did what we meant to do today and the car's performance is good, so I'm pretty satisfied. Our tyres seemed to be working well, which is crucial. Obviously we had an idea of set-up before we arrived and whilst we did make a few changes we should be in a good shape. The circuit is interesting and the first two corners are particularly challenging. The first corner was a little bit slippery but the more we ran the less of a problem that became. We will see in the race where the real overtaking opportunities are, and I'm already looking forward to it."
David Coulthard: "It was a good day today. We completed our tyre evaluation and the pre-planned programme, but as always we shouldn't read too much into the times. This is quite a challenging and interesting circuit especially the first section with the tightening of corner one which despite being slow is very technically demanding. You have to be careful with your rear tyres here because you generate a lot of mechanical grip coming out of the slow corners. All in all it's an impressive facility and I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend."
Ron Dennis: "A wonderful facility with a challenging circuit. We are particularly pleased with the simulation work done by the engineers which has allowed us to come to grips with the circuit after only a few laps. Clearly the lap times will drop as the track develops grip. However so far so good and we look forward to the rest of the weekend."
Norbert Haug: "A good beginning to the race weekend with our programme running as planned. However we shouldn't overestimate the order on a Friday. This is a marvellous and impressive facility with a demanding circuit lay out. It will be tough on Sunday for drivers, chassis and engines."